THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 


Kate  Gordon  Moore 


A  "HADLEY  CHEST,"  1690-1710 

Colonial  Chests  for  Modern  Needs 

LINED    WITH     RED    CEDAR 

CHESTS  or  coffers  have  been  the  sign  of  civilization 
from  the  earliest  times.  To  keep  sate  the  choice  pos- 
sessions lias  been  so  universal  an  instinct  that  each 
nation  and  period  has  produced  its  distinctive  styles  in  these 
most  treasured  articles  of  furniture,  and  their  proportions  and 
designs  have  been  developed  into  lines  of  particular  beauty. 

The  Colonial  Dower  Chests  had  a  dignified  simplicity 
in  keeping  with  the  character  ot  those  who  used  them,  and 
while  not  possessed  of  the  lavish  beauty  of  carving  that  is 
found  in  the  Italian  chests,  they  are  eminently  suited  to  the 
needs  ot  an  American  home  of  today. 

The  above  :'Hadley"  Chest,  so  called  because  of  the 
design  that  was  found  near  old  Hadley  on  a  number  of 
chests  of  the  period  of  1690  to  1710,  is  made  slightly  dif- 
ferent from  the  original,  in  that  Oak  has  been  substituted 
throughout  instead  of  the  pine  top  and  back.  Red  Cedar 
has  been  used  as  a  lining  to  give  the  added  usefulness  ot  its 
protection  against  moths  and  its  fragrance,  and  has  replaced 
the  old  time  pine  in  the  construction  ot  the  drawers.  The 
turned  ornaments  are  made  of  native  Black  Walnut,  and 
give  a  very  distinctive  charm  to  the  whole. 


THE  GRAFTON  HISTORICAL  SERIES 
Edited  by  HENRY   R.  STILES,  A.M.,    M.D. 


The    Grafton    Historical    Series 
Edited  by  Henry  R.  Stiles,  A.M.,  M.D. 


In  Olde  Connecticut 

By  Charles  Burr  Todd 

12mo.    Cloth,  SI. 25  net  (postage  lOc.) 


Historic  Hadley 

By  Alice  Morehouse  Walker 

12mo.     Cloth,    illustrated,  $1.00  net 

(postage  lOc.) 


In  Press 

King  Philip's  War 

By  George  W.  Ellis  and 

John  E.  Morris 


HISTORIC    HADLEY 

A  STORY  OF  THE  MAKING  OF  A   FAMOUS 
MASSACHUSETTS  TOWN 


BY 

ALICE    MOREHOUSE    WALKER 

Author  of  "  Historic  Homes  of  Amherst,"  and 
other  sketches  of  local  history 


THE   GRAFTON    PRESS 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1906, 
BY  THE   GRAFTON   PRESS. 


TO 


THE  SOLDIERS  AND  STATESMEN,  PROFESSIONAL  MEN 
AND  LAYMEN,  TILLERS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  PRODUCERS 
OF  WEALTH  AND  WELL-BEING  SCATTERED  THROUGH- 
OUT MANY  STATES  AND  RESIDENT  IN  FOREIGN  PARTS, 
DESCENDANTS  ALL  OF  THOSE  FIRST  SETTLERS  WHO 
FOUNDED  HADLEY  AMID  THE  MEADOWS  OF  THE  WIND- 
ING CONNECTICUT  MORE  THAN  TWO  CENTURIES  AGO, 
THIS  SIMPLE  STORY  OF  GREAT  DEEDS  IS  DEDICATED. 


85397 


FOREWORD 

LOVE  of  one's  own  town  is  one  of  the  dominant 
motives  underlying  good  citizenship.  The  ori- 
gin, growth,  and  development  of  a  typical  New  England 
town,  covering  two  centuries  and  a  half,  is  a  theme  on 
which  any  thoughtful  person  may  profitably  dwell. 
In  these  busy  days,  however,  few  people  have  the  time 
necessary  to  read  a  ponderous  volume.  For  the  many 
rather  than  the  few  this  little  book  has  been  written. 

The  lands  of  the  early  settlers  of  Hadley  are  pass- 
ing into  the  possession  of  the  children  of  aliens,  and 
the  town-meeting,  church,  school,  and  homes  are  for 
these  strangers  to  control.  This  book  is  for  these 
also,  that  they  may  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  those 
mighty  souls,  which  remains  still  potent  enough  to 
make  Americans  out  of  Europeans,  even  as  in  1776  it 
made  patriots  and  freemen  out  of  the  subjects  of  King 
George. 

In  the  endeavor  to  make  these  pages  interesting  and 
to  impart  to  them  the  fascination  of  a  story,  truth  has 
not  been  sacrificed  to  style.  Painstaking  effort  has 
been  made  to  search  the  town  records,  to  scrutinize 
every  historical  document,  and  to  weigh  carefully  famil- 

vii 


viii  Foreword 

iar  traditions.  The  old  dwellings,  the  highways  and 
byways,  the  mountains,  the  river  and  the  meadows, 
the  ancient  elms,  heirlooms  and  antique  relics  have 
been  questioned  and  cross-questioned  until  they  have 
broken  their  silence  of  centuries  and  told  the  story  of 
by-gone  days. 

The  author  acknowledges  with  pleasure  the  help  de- 
rived from  the  study  of  the  voluminous  manuscripts  of 
Sylvester  Judd,  now  carefully  guarded  in  the  Forbes 
Library  in  Northampton,  and  his  "  History  of  Hadley," 
completed  after  his  death  by  the  late  Lucius  M.  Bolt- 
wood.  Credit  should  also  be  given  for  the  aid  afforded 
by  "  The  History  of  the  Hopkins  Fund,"  prepared  and 
published  under  the  direction  of  the  Trustees  of  Hop- 
kins Academy.  "The  History  of  Western  Massachu- 
setts," by  J.  G.  Holland,  has  elucidated  some  interesting 
points  of  the  narrative. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  volume  will  be  read  and  re-read, 
and  that  copies  will  be  sent  with  the  best  wishes  of  the 
senders  to  distant  friends,  that  all  the  world  may  be 
familiar  with  Historic  Hadley,  sitting  by  the  riverside, 
the  mother  of  towns,  of  churches,  and  of  schools. 

A.   M.  W. 

AMHERST,  MASS.,  July  4,  1906. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 

THE  FOUNDERS  AND  THEIR  FORTUNES 


The  Indian  Owners  of  the  Quonektacut  Valley.  The  "  Engag- 
ers." The  Emigration.  Establishing  the  New  Town.  The 
First  Winter  in  "  Norwottuck  Beyond  Springfield."  Laying  Out 
the  Broad  Street.  The  Meadows  and  the  Plains.  Varied  Duties 
of  the  New  Settlers.  Origin  of  the  Name  Hadley.  Parson  John 
Russell  and  His  Work.  Joseph  Kellogg  and  His  Ferry.  Build- 
ing the  Meeting-house.  Home  Lots  on  the  Broad  Street.  Exten- 
sion of  the  Town  Limits.  Death  of  Governor  Webster.  Doctor 
John  Westcarr.  Hadley  Dames  Presented  in  Court  for  Wearing 
Silk.  Secession  of  the  "  West  Siders."  Preparation  for  Trials  to 
Come. 


CHAPTER    II 

A  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  OLD  HADLEY  ....     22 

General  Edward  Whalley  and  General  William  Goffe,  Fugitives 
from  the  High  Court  of  Justice.  Parson  Russell's  Hospitality. 
News  of  King  Philip's  Uprising.  The  Hampshire  Troop  of  Horse- 
men. The  Ambuscade  near  the  Indian  Fort.  The  Attack.  The 
Angel  Sent  from  God.  Days  of  Terror.  Death  of  Captain 
Lothrop  near  Muddy  Brook.  Burning  of  Springfield.  Hopeless 
Condition  of  Hadley.  The  Winter  of  1675  and  1676.  Preparing 
for  a  Siege.  Building  the  Palisades.  Death  of  Deacon  Goodman 
and  Captivity  of  Thomas  Reed.  The  "Falls  Fight."  Friendly 
Indian  Allies.  The  Parade  of  the  Army  from  Connecticut  on  Had- 
ley Street.  Feeding  the  Swarm  of  Soldiers.  The  Attack  on 
Hadley,  June  12,  1676.  The  "Great  Gun."  Superstitious  Ter- 
rors. Mary  Webster,  the  Witch.  Death  of  Parson  Russell. 


x  Contents 

CHAPTER   III 

THE  CHURCH  IN  OLD  HADLEY 40 

I. — The  Pastorate  of  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey 

Securing  the  New  Pastor.  Murder  of  Richard  Church  by  In- 
dians. Discovery  and  Punishment  of  the  Murderers.  Controversy 
Regarding  the  Seating  of  the  Meeting-house.  Effect  of  the  Peace 
of  Utrecht.  Removing  the  Fortifications.  The  Arts  of  Peace. 
Building  the  Second  Meeting-house.  Later  Repairs  and  Renova- 
tions. Church  Manners  and  Customs.  Slavery  in  Hadley. 
Joshua  Boston  and  Arthur  Prutt,  Two  Hadley  Slaves.  The  Sad 
Story  of  Caesar  Prutt.  Selling  a  Slave  at  Amherst  Town-meeting. 
The  Extraordinary  Adventure  of  Zebulon  Prutt.  Establishment 
of  the  Southern  Precinct  Beyond  the  Mountain.  Setting  Off  the 
East  Precinct.  The  Interrupted  Career  of  Israel  Chauncey. 
Activity  of  Parson  Chauncey  and  His  Final  Retirement. 

II. — The  Pastorates  of  Rev.  Chester  Williams  and 
Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins 

rrosperity  in  Hadley.  Parson  Williams'  Wardrobe.  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  His  Controversy.  Appointment  of  the  Hadley  Min- 
ister as  Scribe  of  the  Council  of  Churches.  Sickness  and  Death  of 
Parson  Williams.  Ordination  of  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins.  His 
Marriage  to  Mrs.  Chester  Williams.  The  "Awful  Earthquake" 
in  Hadley.  Home  of  Captain  Moses  Porter.  His  Call  to  Duty,  and 
Death  in  the  Battle  of  Lake  George.  Burial  of  Madam  Porter. 
Personality  of  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins.  Burning  of  the  Pastor's 
House.  A  Presage  of  Revolution.  The  Call  to  Arms.  News  of  the 
Battle  of  Lexington.  The  Porter  Family  in  Old  Hadley.  The 
Porter  Homestead,  the  Oldest  House  in  Hadley.  Colonel  Elisha 
Porter's  Call  to  Quebec.  Return  of  Part  of  Burgoyne's  Army  to 
Hadley.  Hospitality  of  Colonel  Porter.  The  Sword  of  Burgoyne. 
Hadley  Soldiers  in  the  Revolution.  Shays'  Rebellion.  General 
Lincoln  with  His  Army  in  Hadley.  Preaching  to  the  Soldiers 
from  Behind  a  Pulpit  of  Snow.  Planning  the  Third  Meeting- 
house. Dedication  of  the  New  Building. 

III. — Rev.  John  Woodbridge  and  His  Successors 

Death  and  Burial  of  Dr.  Hopkins.  Rev.  John  Woodbridge. 
Visit  of  President  Timothy  Dwight.  Moving  the  Meeting-house. 
Division  in  the  Church.  The  Withdrawal  from  the  First  Church 
and  the  Establishment  of  the  Russell  Church.  Successors  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Woodbridge.  The  Old  Church  To-day. 


Contents  xi 

CHAPTER   IV 

HOPKINS  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  AND  ACADEMY      .     .     74 

Early  Ideas  Concerning  Schools.  Parson  Russell's  Desire. 
Governor  Edward  Hopkins  and  His  Will.  Trustees  of  the  Will. 
The  Hadley  Trustees  of  the  Grammar  School.  The  Hadley  School 
Meadows,  and  the  Committee  in  Charge.  First  Teaching  in  Had- 
ley. Caleb  Watson  and  His  School.  School  Regulations.  Early 
Hadley  Teaching.  The  First  Schoolhouse.  Investment  of  the 
Funds.  The  School  Mill.  Departure  of  Ruling  Elder  Goodwin, 
and  His  Suit  Against  the  Trustees.  Burning  of  the  Mill  During  the 
War.  Efforts  to  Make  the  School  an  English  School.  Opposition 
of  Parson  Russell  to  the  Scheme.  Town-meeting  at  Break  of 
Day.  Re-establishment  of  the  Grammar  School.  The  New  School 
Committee.  Josiah  Pierce,  the  Schoolmaster  Who  Raised  Pota- 
toes. The  Brick  Academy  Building.  Later  Preceptors  of  Hop- 
kins Academy.  Decline  of  the  Academy.  The  Free  High  School. 
Burning  of  the  Academy  Building.  Sale  of  School  Lands  and  of 
the  Mill  Site.  Graduates  and  Former  Students  of  Hopkins  Gram- 
mar School  and  Academy. 


CHAPTER   V 

THK  WEALTH  OF  THE   RIVER    AND   THE  FERTILE 

MEADOWS 98 

The  Connecticut  River  in  Olden  Time.  The  Indians  and  the 
River.  Pines  Along  the  Bank.  Influence  of  the  River  on  the 
Early  Settlements.  Floods.  Shad  and  Salmon.  The  Fishery  at 
the  "Greate  Falls."  Lumbering  in  the  Valley  Towns.  Trouble 
on  Account  of  Logs.  Rafting.  The  Lumber  Road  and  the  Saw 
Mills.  Traffic  on  the  River.'  The  "Great  Canoes."  The  Falls 
Boats.  The  Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals.  Digging  a 
Canal  Around  the  Great  Falls.  Planting  Elms  in  Hadley  Street. 
A  New  Kind  of  "  Corn  Seed."  The  Broom  Corn  Industry.  The 
First  Steamboats  on  the  River.  The  Coming  of  the  Barnet.  A 
Voyage  on  the  Vermont.  The  Steamboat  William  Hall  Plying 
Between  Hadley  and  Hartford.  A  Picnic  on  the  Franklin.  The 
Railroad  to  Springfield  from  Northampton.  Railroad  Connection 
with  Boston.  Connecting  Electric  Trolley  Lines.  Passing  of  the 
Romance  of  the  River. 


xii  Contents 

CHAPTER    VI 

THE  BURIAL  PLACE  OF  HADLEY' s  HONORED  DEAD  117 

First  Burial  on  the  Meadow  Plain.  Burial  of  Governor  John 
Webster.  The  Old  Hadley  Cemetery.  Inscription  on  the  Web- 
ster Monument.  Death  and  Burial  of  Each  of  the  Founders.  Rude 
Gravestones  on  the  Older  Graves.  Burial  of  Hadley  Slaves. 
Early  Funeral  Fashions.  The  Earliest  Monuments  Marking  the 
Graves  of  Parson  Russell  and  His  Wife.  Inscriptions  on  These 
Stones.  Stones  Marking  the  Graves  of  the  Other  Ministers. 
Grave  of  Bishop  Frederic  D.  Huntington. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Oldest  House  in  Hadley.     (Built  in  1713.)     (See  p.  63.) 

Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Old  Hadley  Street  To-day  (looking  south  from  Russell  Street)  14 
The  Meadow  Plain  and  the  Holyoke  Mountains  (looking 

southeast  from  the  river)  22 

The  Present  Hadley  Meeting-house.  (Built  in  1808  and 

moved  to  its  present  site  in  1840) 40 

Hopkins  Academy  Building.  (Built  in  1894) 74 

The  Connecticut  River  and  the  Meadow  Plain  (looking  north 

from  the  railroad) 98 

Old  Hadley  Burying  Ground 117 


HISTORIC   HADLEY 


HISTORIC    HADLEY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  FOUNDERS  AND  THEIR  FORTUNES 

THE  Indian  owners  of  the  valley  bordering  on 
Quonektacut,  the  "Great  River,"  were  very 
desirous  that  the  English  should  settle  in  their  midst. 
These  lordly  hunters  scorned  the  thought  of  labor, 
and  their  toiling  squaws  were  able  to  cultivate  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  fertile  openings  between  the 
groups  of  pines  and  cedars.  The  white  man,  after 
the  bargain  was  completed,  would  be  willing  that  his 
red  brothers  should  hunt  in  his  forests  and  fish  in 
his  streams,  and  for  his  meadow  land  would  pay  long 
strings  of  wampum,  coats  and  breeches,  guns  and 
ammunition,  brass  kettles,  knives  and  needles,  with 
perhaps  a  taste  of  the  fiery  drink  known  as  "kill 
devil"  to  seal  the  bargain. 

The  Puritan  members  of  the  churches  in  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield  differed  among  themselves  concerning 
baptism.  Therefore  the  minority  in  each  congregation 
withdrew  from  its  communion,  and,  encouraged  by 
Parson  Russell  of  Wethersfield,  commissioned  Major 
John  Pynchon,  the  famous  trader,  to  buy  for  them  a 


2  Historic  Hadley 

portion  of  the  Massachusetts  wilderness  where  in 
peace  they  might  practise  and  believe.  The  old  chief- 
tains Chickwallopp,  Umpanchala,  and  Quonquont 
were  ready  to  sell  their  ancient  heritage,  and  the 
Connecticut  "  withdrawers "  were  anxious  to  buy. 
The  bargain,  therefore,  was  soon  concluded;  each  red 
man  made  his  mark  upon  the  deed ;  and  the  land  from 
Mount  Holyoke  on  the  south,  to  Mount  Toby  and 
Mohawk  Brook  on  the  north,  and  extending  eastward 
nine  miles  into  the  woods,  passed  into  the  possession 
of  Major  Pynchon,  and  was  by  him  transferred  to 
the  "withdrawers,"  who  termed  themselves  "Strict 
Congregationalists,"  and  adhered  to  the  good  old 
doctrines  and  opposed  all  new-fangled  notions  in 
preaching  and  practise.  The  "withdrawers,"  by  this 
historic  act  transformed  into  the  "engagers,"  at  a 
meeting  held  April  18,  1659,  in  Hartford,  in  the  home 
of  Goodman  Ward,  signed  an  agreement  to  "remove 
themselves  and  their  families  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
Conecticut  into  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mattachusets." 
They  also  appointed  William  Westwood,  Richard 
/  Goodman,  William  Lewis,  John  White,  and  Nathaniel 
Dickinson  "to  go  up  to  the  aforesaid  plantation  and 
lay  out  59  homelots."  Most  of  the  signers  of  this 
agreement  had  never  seen  the  place  which  was  to 
become  their  home. 

Many  of  these  "engagers"  were  men  of  wealth  and 
learning,  holding  responsible  positions  which  they  were 


The   Founders  and   Their  Fortunes  3 

willing  to  relinquish  for  conscience's  sake.  Among  the 
leaders  was  the  Honorable  John  Webster,  a  former 
governor  of  Connecticut  and  one  of  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies,  who  had  been  deeply  interested 
in  the  controversy  of  the  churches.  He  died  in  Hadley 
when  the  town  was  still  in  its  infancy.  His  daughter 
Elizabeth  married  William  Markham,  one  of  the 
"engagers,"  and  Anne,  another  daughter,  became  the 
wife  of  John  Marsh,  whose  name  also  is  on  the  list. 
John  Russell,  ST.,  a  glazier  by  trade,  cast  his  fortunes 
with  his  son,  Parson  John  Russell,  the  leader  of  the 
Wethersfield  contingent,  and  signed  the  agreement. 
Lieutenant  Samuel  Smith,  a  "man  of  note,"  also  was 
an  "  engager,"  and  was  foremost  among  the  promoters 
of  the  embryo  settlement.  These  all  appear  among 
the  Hadley  pioneers,  the  real  founders  of  the  town. 
Others,  less  constant  in  their  purpose,  allowed  their 
signatures  to  stand,  but  carried  their  projects  no  farther. 
The  journey  from  Hartford  northward  into  the 
wilderness  was  beset  with  difficulty.  The  "Greate 
Falls"  prevented  transportation  by  water  and  the 
Holyoke  mountains  stood  squarely  across  the  most 
direct  pathway  by  land.  Undaunted,  however,  a  few 
of  the  "engagers"  packed  their  household  goods  in 
ox  carts,  made  nests  for  their  children  among  the 
feather  beds,  mounted  each  his  wife  behind  him  on  a 
pillion,  and  thus  plodded  along  the  rugged  cart- way  to 
Windsor,  and  thence  through  Waranoke,  now  West- 


4  Historic  Hadley 

field,  toward  Northampton,  the  new  town  which  was 
to  be  their  western  neighbor.  Crossing  the  river  in 
canoes,  they  pitched  their  tents  until  cabins  could  be 
built  for  temporary  homes. 

Once  arrived  at  their  destination,  these  energetic 
and  methodical  pioneers  determined  that  from  the 
first  everything  should  be  done  decently  and  in  order. 
November  9,  1659,  they  called  a  town-meeting,  and 
appointed  a  committee  of  seven  "to  order  all  public 
occasions  that  concern  the  good  of  the  plantation 
for  the  Yeare  Insuing."  This  committee  made  a 
"rate"  to  pay  the  minister's  salary,  and  sent  messen- 
gers to  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  that  those  "en- 
gagers" who  had  not  removed  might  not  fail  to 
contribute  their  share.  The  town  was  laid  out  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  Richard  Fellows  being  the  first 
settler  on  the  west  side.  He  was  followed  by  Thomas 
Meekins,  William  Allis,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr., 
Thomas  Graves  and  his  sons  Isaac  and  John,  Samuel 
Belding,  Stephen  Taylor,  John  White,  Jr.,  Daniel 
Warner,  Richard  Billing,  Zachariah  Field,  Daniel 
White,  John  Cowls,  Samuel  Dickinson,  and  John  Cole- 
man.  Before  1661  these  had  built  their  homes  on 
what  is  now  Hatfield  Street,  then  known  as  the 
"West  Side."  Among  the  settlers  who  established 
themselves  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  were  the 
townsmen:  William  Westwood,  Nathaniel  Dickinson, 
Samuel  Smith,  Thomas  Standlcy,  John  White,  Rich- 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  5 

ard  Goodman,  and  Nathaniel  Ward.  Exactly  what 
other  families  may  have  been  there  we  cannot  tell. 
Lest  there  should  be  jealousy  it  was  voted  that  "All 
that  sett  down  on  the  land  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river  shall  be  one  with  those  on  the  east  side,  both 
in  ecclesiastical  and  civil  matters,"  and  for  several 
years  both  "siders"  made  strenuous  efforts  to  make 
good  this  action  of  the  town. 

And  so  came  into  being  the  nameless  settlement  in 
the  wilderness  of  "Norwottuck  beyond  Springfield." 
We  can  readily  imagine  the  difficulties  which  must 
have  beset  the  colonists  during  that  first  winter  of 
1659  and  1660.  Overlooking  the  southern  meadow 
was  an  Indian  fort  from  which  the  few  small  houses 
in  Northampton  could  be  seen.  Toward  the  north  the 
chieftain  Quonquont  and  his  tribe  lived  in  their  wig- 
wams beside  the  river.  The  idle,  thriftless  Indians  were 
friendly  neighbors,  upon  wrhom  the  settlers  must  have 
depended  for  favors  without  end.  The  native  hunter 
drove  many  a  sharp  bargain  with  his  white  brother 
for  corn  and  maple  sugar,  taking  pay  in  ammuni- 
tion, knives,  and  needles  which  could  not  well  be 
spared  from  the  white  man's  scanty  store,  while  the 
squaw  for  a  consideration  furnished  moccasons  and 
deerskins  ready  dressed,  from  which  warm  clothing 
was  made.  Thus  protected  from  the  cold  the  heads 
of  families  and  elder  sons  were  obliged  to  hunt 
on  the  mountains  and  fish  through  the  ice  to 


6  Historic  Hadley 

secure  sufficient  daily  food.  With  energetic  strokes 
the  choppers  felled  great  pine  trees  and  cleared  the 
underbrush  in  preparation  for  the  other  "engagers" 
who  might  come  in  the  spring.  The  woods  were  full 
of  howling  wild  beasts,  and  wolves  nightly  prowled 
around  the  clearing.  Where  now  we  see  the  wide  and 
level  street,  there  then  were  ridges  and  hollows  and 
ponds.  That  winter  must  have  been  a  season  of 
arduous  toil,  and  with  the  spring  came  the  great  floods 
which  caused  the  hearts  of  the  newcomers  to  fail 
within  them. 

With  perseverance,  however,  the  pioneers  laid  out 
their  broad  highway,  twenty  rods  in  width,  bordered 
with  home  lots  of  eight  acres  each.  This  street  ex- 
tended across  the  peninsula,  with  the  "  Greate  River " 
for  its  boundary  at  either  end.  Samuel  Smith  and 
Peter  Tilton  measured  and  staked  the  lots  for  three- 
pence per  acre,  and  caused  the  name  of  each  pro- 
prietor to  be  placed  upon  his  stake.  He  was  then 
required  to  enclose  his  own  lot  by  a  fence  made  of 
five  rails  fastened  to  posts  four  feet  high.  Another 
way  of  fencing  was  to  dig  a  ditch  three  feet  wide  and 
two  feet  deep  and  throw  the  earth  upon  one  bank,  on 
which  a  fence  of  three  rails  was  set.  Every  man  was 
obliged  to  labor  on  the  fences  at  the  ends  of  the  street 
and  at  the  west  end  of  the  "laines"  running  into  the 
woods,  at  each  of  which  there  was  to  be  maintained 
a  "Goode  Gaite." 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  7 

The  vast  eastern  forests  were  known  as  the  "  Woods  " 
or  the  "Pine  Plain,"  and  the  western  and  southern 
grazing  lands  constituted  the  "  Greate  Meadowe," 
within  whose  boundary  lines  was  the  "  Forlorn  Hope." 
The  little  "  Aqua  Vitse  "  meadow  bordered  the  river  near 
the  home  of  the  ferryman,  Joseph  Kellogg.  In  1663 
Hockanum  meadow  was  divided  and  ordered  to  be 
fenced  by  its  owners.  Each  person  was  obliged  to 
keep  his  cattle  on  his  own  part  of  the  meadow,  on 
penalty  of  twelvepence  fine  for  every  "hoge"  or 
"shoate,"  and  one  shilling  eightpence  for  a  "score  of 
sheepe"  that  should  go  astray.  The  sharp  eyes  of 
the  hayward,  Goodman  Richard  Montague,  were 
always  on  the  lookout  for  offenders,  as  he  received  a 
percentage  on  all  fines  collected.  Viewers  of  fences 
were  men  of  importance  in  those  days,  as  upon  their 
faithfulness  depended  the  welfare  of  the  little  hamlet. 
Almost  before  the  fences  were  built  William  Westwood 
and  Thomas  Standley  were  chosen  to  perform  that 
duty.  Each  person  had  "plow  land"  and  "moeing 
land"  in  the  "Greate  Meadowe,"  and  some  living  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town  were  given  shares  in  Fort 
Meadow,  its  swamp  being  accounted  "two  for  one." 
To  see  that  these  cultivated  fields,  upon  the  products 
of  which  the  very  existence  of  the  settlement  depended, 
were  not  disturbed  by  the  droves  of  young  horses  and 
cattle  which  roamed  on  the  mountains  and  through  the 
woods  required  constant  care  of  many  miles  of  fencing. 


8  Historic  Hadley 

In  addition  to  service  for  the  public  welfare,  each 
farmer  was  compelled  at  first  to  be  his  own  carpenter 
and  blacksmith,  and  to  grind  his  own  corn,  and  make 
his  own  bolts,  and  "pailes"  and  clapboards  and 
shingles.  He  was  ordered  by  the  town  fathers,  after 
felling  any  "rift  timber"  (oak)  or  any  "pine  tree,"  to 
make  it  at  once  into  needed  articles,  on  penalty  of 
having  it  confiscated  by  any  one  who  chose  to  take  it. 
Those  of  the  settlers  who,  like  Nathaniel  Dickinson, 
had  several  lusty  sons  to  share  their  toil  must  have 
been  envied  by  others  who  were  wholly  dependent  for 
assistance  upon  neighbors  and  the  few  who  were 
willing  to  work  for  wages. 

The  citizens  of  the  "Newtown,"  as  the  settlement 
was  sometimes  called,  had  now  secured  their  hearts' 
desire  for  freedom  from  controversy  with  regard  to  the 
"  half  way  covenant,"  but  they  had  no  meeting-house, 
and  did  not  possess  even  a  legal  name.  Those  among 
the  Hartford  men  who  came  from  Essex,  in  England, 
were  glad  to  christen  their  new  home  Hadleigh,  or 
Hadley,  dear  to  their  youthful  hearts  in  days  gone  by, 
and  in  1661  this  action  was  confirmed  by  the  General 
Court  in  Boston. 

John  Russell,  Jr.,  the  minister  of  Wethersfield,  who 
with  a  portion  of  his  flock  had  already  cast  his  lot 
with  the  "engagers,"  was  willing  to  accept  the  formal 
call  to  build  up  a  church  among  a  united  people. 
His  father  had  secured  an  allotment  of  land  on  Hadley 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  9 

street,  and  his  brother  Philip  was  one  of  the  settlers 
on  the  "West  Side."  The  parson,  John  Jr.,  was 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1645  when  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  preached  in  Wethersfield  about  ten 
years,  and  probably  came  to  Hadley  in  1660.  In  that 
year  the  "Said  Inhabitants  and  Planters"  voted  to 
pay  him  eighty  pounds  annual  salary,  and  gave  him 
a  home  lot  of  eight  acres  next  to  the  middle  highway 
leading  to  the  woods.  The  minister  had  to  build  his 
own  house  and  clear  his  own  land.  No  mention  is 
made  of  any  provision  by  the  people  of  firewood 
for  his  use.  So  in  order  that  his  wife  and  three 
little  children  should  not  freeze,  the  minister  was 
obliged  to  chop  down  trees  and  draw  them  to  his 
own  dooryard.  At  first  he  had  no  servants,  and  the 
three  negro  slaves  included  in  the  inventory  of  his 
estate  were  probably  bought  years  later  when  family 
cares  had  increased.  Parson  Russell's  salary  was  paid 
in  winter  wheat  at  three  shillings  threepence,  peas  at 
two  shillings  sixpence,  and  Indian  corn  at  two  shillings 
per  bushel,  all  of  which  commodities  had  to  be  ex- 
changed for  other  goods  as  there  was  little  money. 
But  though  obliged  to  perform  much  manual  labor, 
the  minister  was  not  required  to  offer  prayer  at  funerals, 
or  to  officiate  at  weddings,  the  latter  duty  being  per- 
formed by  the  justice  of  the  peace.  No  doubt  the 
magistrate  united  the  minister  himself  first  to  Mary 
Talcott,  then  to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Thomas 


10  Historic  Hadley 

Newbury  of  Windsor,  and  again  to  Phebe,  widow  of 
Rev.  John  Whiting  of  Hartford.  Rebecca,  the  wife 
who  came  with  Parson  Russell  to  Hadley,  is  buried 
by  his  side  in  the  old  Hadley  cemetery. 

Jonathan  Russell,  the  son  of  the  minister,  was  for 
twenty-eight  years  pastor  of  the  church  in  Barnstable, 
and  Samuel,  another  son,  was  the  minister  in  Bran- 
ford,  Connecticut.  These  two,  and  John,  the  first 
born  son,  who  died  when  young,  were  inmates  of  that 
new  Hadley  home.  William  Westwood,  the  first  local 
magistrate  authorized  to  unite  couples  in  marriage, 
pronounced  his  own  daughter  Sarah  and  Aaron  Cooke 
husband  and  wife,  after  which  they  doubtless  partook 
of  "sack  posset"  by  way  of  a  mild  celebration  after 
the  good  old  fashion.  This  was  the  first  wedding  in 
Hadley.  Parson  Russell  did  not  perform  a  marriage 
ceremony  in  Hadley  until  just  before  his  death. 

The  newly  appointed  minister  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon in  a  private  house,  for,  in  spite  of  their  best  efforts, 
the  settlers  could  not  build  a  meeting-house  that  first 
year.  December  12,  1661,  we  find  the  statement  in  the 
records :  "  The  Town  have  ordered  that  they  will  Build 
and  erect  A  meeting  house  to  be  a  place  for  publick 
worship,  whose  figure  is  45  foote  in  length,  and  24 
foote  in  Bredth,  with  Leantors  on  both  sides,  which 
shall  Inlarge  the  whole  to  36  in  Bredth."  "This  shall 
be  scittuated  and  sett  up  on  the  common  street." 
But  other  matters  were  so  pressing  that  it  seems  to 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  11 

have  taken  them  long  to  build  the  Lord's  house,  and 
probably  during  this  time  meetings  were  held  in  the 
home  of  some  leading  church  member. 

The  people,  however,  were  not  idle,  for  public 
affairs  demanded  much  attention.  Joseph  Kellogg, 
the  first  ferryman,  had  built  his  house  on  the  ferry  lot 
at  the  south  end  of  the  street,  where  he  received  as 
fares  eightpence  in  wheat,  or  sixpence  in  money,  for 
man  and  horse.  On  lecture  days,  when  six  or  more 
persons  went  together,  the  rate  was  decreased,  and 
after  dark  the  fares  were  doubled.  The  ferryman  was 
also  allowed  to  keep  an  "ordinary"  and  entertain 
strangers.  Lieutenant  Joseph,  who  afterward  became 
the  father  of  twenty  children,  had  quite  a  family  even 
now,  and  with  his  ferry  passengers  and  guests  he  for 
one  could  not  have  had  much  time  to  assist  in  building 
the  meeting-house.  The  town  had  to  aid  Parson 
Russell  in  the  work  of  putting  an  addition  on  his 
dwelling,  and  then  at  his  request  engaged  William 
Goodwin  as  an  elder  to  assist  him  in  his  work.  Part 
of  the  parish  being  across  the  river  there  must  have 
been  times  when  two  men  were  absolutely  required  to 
look  after  manners  and  morals  according  to  the  rigid 
standard  of  that  day.  Many  town-meetings  were  held, 
for  absence  from  which  penalties  were  imposed  on 
busy  men.  The  farmers  held  chopping  bees  and  felled 
great  trees  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  bridges  over  the 
smaller  brooks,  and  built  a  more  elaborate  bridge 


12  Historic  Hadley 

for  horses,  oxen,  and  carts  across  Fort  River  on  the 
Springfield  road,  and  contributed  toward  the  expense 
of  laying  out  a  "  commodious  way  to  the  Bay."  Wearied 
with  the  labor  of  grinding  their  grain  in  their  own 
homes  they  offered  Goodman  Meekins  a  fifty-pound 
allotment  on  the  west  side  of  the  "Greate  River" 
upon  which  to  build  a  mill,  the  citizens  agreeing  to 
patronize  him  so  long  as  he  made  good  meal.  Thomas 
Wells  and  John  Hubbard  were  appointed  to  carry  the 
corn  in  a  boat  across  the  river  twice  a  week,  and  to 
bring  back  the  meal,  for  which  they  should  receive 
threepence  a  bushel,  each  farmer  to  have  his  corn 
ready  and  his  bags  marked  with  his  name.  Finally  a 
sawmill  was  erected  on  Mill  River,  thus  making  it  less 
difficult  to  get  out  lumber. 

Again  the  citizens  brought  up  the  matter  of  building 
the  meeting-house,  and  on  August  27,  1663,  in  town- 
meeting  assembled,  passed  the  following  resolution: 
"The  town  have  voted  (nemine  contradicente)  that 
they  will  with  all  convenient  speede,  endeavour  and 
set  aboute  the  building  and  erecting  a  meeting  house 
for  publick  worshipp."  The  following  committee  was 
put  in  charge:  William  Clarke,  Samuel  Smith,  William 
Westwood,  John  Barnard,  Thomas  Meekins,  Nathaniel 
Dickinson,  and  Isaac  Graves.  The  work  at  last  was 
started  and  this  time  the  attempt  was  a  success,  although 
the  building  wras  not  completed  for  seven  years.  The 
construction  of  the  "Leantors"  was  abandoned  and 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  13 

there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  house  as  first 
used  conformed  in  other  respects  to  the  original  plan. 
According  to  the  vote  the  building  was  "  scittuated  and 
sett  up  in  the  common  street,"  toward  the  north,  in 
order  to  accommodate  residents  on  the  "  West  Side." 
The  solid  framework  was  put  together  and,  after 
delay,  was  raised,  but  the  building  was  not  then  com- 
pleted, possibly  because  the  western  settlers  had  already 
begun  to  discuss  plans  for  having  a  meeting-house 
and  minister  of  their  own. 

Great  was  the  alarm  at  the  thought  of  the  desertion 
of  the  "West  Siders,"  for  the  whole  parish  found  it 
difficult  to  raise  enough  grain  with  which  to  pay 
Parson  Russell's  salary.  Should  the  western  part  of 
the  parish  secede,  taking  with  it  the  corn  mill,  the 
settlement  would  be  crippled  indeed!  There  seems 
to  have  been  some  discussion  in  regard  to  moving  the 
half-finished  meeting-house,  for  the  vote  stands  to  the 
effect :  "  Untill  the  Lord  makes  it  appear  that  one 
part  of  us  have  a  call  to  make  a  society  of  themselves," 
they  would  remain  united  and  let  the  meeting-house 
stand  "in  or  about  the  place  where  it  was  wrought 
and  framed."  Thus  referring  the  matter  to  the  Lord, 
they  proceeded  with  the  work,  and  soon  the  little 
building,  similar  in  fashion  to  the  one  in  Hartford, 
was  firmly  set  upon  its  hill,  that  it  might  not  be  hid. 
Above  its  solid  frame  rose  a  sloping  roof,  alike  on  all 
four  sides,  with  probably  a  turret  in  the  middle  for 


14  Historic  Hadley 

the  bell  which  they  hoped  soon  to  secure.  The  com- 
mittee then  collected  the  roughly  hewn  "Boards  and 
Rales"  from  the  individuals  by  whom  they  had  been 
prepared,  and  made  long  benches  without  backs, 
and  a  rude  pulpit,  after  which  they  rested  to  await 
developments. 

A  stranger  coming  into  Hadley  from  the  south,  in 
1663,  would  cross  the  river  on  Joseph  Kellogg's  ferry- 
boat, and  would  possibly  take  dinner  with  him  and 
his  numerous  family  in  the  ferry-house  at  the  Aqua 
Vitae  meadow.  The  settlement  at  this  time  was  laid 
out  on  both  sides  of  the  broad  street  which  extended 
north  and  south  across  the  eastern  part  of  the  peninsula 
made  by  the  river  in  its  detour  westward  toward 
Northampton.  The  land  enclosed  between  the  street 
and  the  river  on  the  west  was  the  fertile  Meadow 
Plain.  To  the  east  stretched  the  vast  Pine  Plain  or 
Woods.  Leading  away  westward  from  the  street  were 
three  highways,  known  respectively  as  the  north, 
middle,  and  south  highway  to  the  meadow,  and  three 
similar  highways  led  from  the  main  street  eastward 
toward  the  woods.  At  the  extreme  southeastern  corner 
of  the  settlement,  on  the  southern  side  of  the  south 
highway  to  the  woods,  lived  John  Russell,  Sr.,  father 
of  the  minister.  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  and  his  son 
Thomas  Dickinson,  lived  in  the  same  section  of  the 
town  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  street  and  north  of  the 
south  highway.  Next  in  the  line  on  the  east  side  of 


ffi 
c 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  15 

the  street  was  the  house  of  William  Westwood,  in  the 
midst  of  his  eight-acre  lot,  where  he  lived  with  his 
wife,  Bridget,  and  daughter,  Sarah,  who  married 
Aaron  Cooke.  Then  came  the  home  of  Richard 
Goodman  and  his  wife,  Mary  Terry  of  Windsor,  and 
infant  son,  John.  Others  who  lived  on  the  east  side 
of  the  street  in  the  southeastern  section  were :  William 
Lewis,  who  in  1G62  represented  Hadley  in  the  Gen- 
eral Court;  the  Hon.  Peter  Tilton,  recorder,  repre- 
sentative, associate  judge  of  the  county  court,  and 
"one  of  the  most  worshipful  assistants  of  the  col- 
ony"; John  White,  also  a  representative;  Thomas 
Stanley,  and  Nathaniel  Stanley,  his  son;  Andrew 
Bacon;  and  John  Barnard,  afterward  slain  by  the 
Indians. 

In  the  northeastern  section  of  the  settlement,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  street,  just  north  of  the  middle  highway 
to  the  woods,  lived  Parson  Russell,  and  immediately 
north  was  the  town  lot.  North  of  the  town  lot  on  the 
east  side  of  the  street  were  the  homes  of  John  Hub- 
bard,  Thomas  Wells,  Samuel  Porter  of  Windsor, 
whose  son  Samuel  became  judge  and  sheriff  of  the 
county  and  the  father  of  thirteen  children;  John 
Dickinson,  the  son  of  Nathaniel;  Richard  Mon- 
tague, the  grave-digger;  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  a 
"man  of  note";  and  his  son  Philip  Smith,  who  was 
afterwards  slain  by  the  machinations  of  the  witch 
Mary  Webster;  Thomas  Coleman;  and  William  Par- 


16  Historic   Hadley 

trigg.  Next  on  the  north  lived  A.  Nichols,  John 
Ingram,  John  Taylor,  and  Wm.  Pixley. 

In  the  northwestern  quarter  of  the  settlement,  north 
of  the  northern  highway  to  the  meadow,  lived  Samuel 
Gardner.  South  of  the  northern  highway  and  on  the 
western  side  of  the  street  lived  Chileab  Smith,  son 
of  Lieutenant  Samuel  Smith;  Joseph  Baldwin;  Robert 
Boltwood;  Francis  Barnard,  father  of  John  Barnard; 
John  Hawkes;  Richard  Church;  and  Edward  Church, 
his  son.  South  of  the  middle  highway  and  on  the 
western  side  of  the  street  were  the  homes  of  Henry 
Clark,  "a  wealthy  and  distinguished  man";  Stephen 
Terry;  Andrew  Warner;  John  Marsh;  Timothy  Nash, 
the  blacksmith;  Governor  John  Webster;  William 
Goodwin;  John  Crow;  Samuel  Moody;  Nathaniel 
Ward;  and  William  Markham,  who  married  Eliza- 
beth, the  daughter  of  Governor  Webster. 

The  unfinished  meeting-house  stood  in  the  middle 
of  the  broad  street  about  opposite  the  house  of  John 
Dickinson,  somewhat  to  the  north  of  the  middle  high- 
way. All  about  it  up  and  down  the  broad  street 
were  the  homes  of  these  founders  of  Hadley,  heroic 
men,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims  and 
the  courage  of  their  convictions.  The  innumerable 
company  of  their  descendants,  scattered  abroad 
throughout  the  earth,  are  proud  to  trace  their  an- 
cestry back  to  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  famous 
New  England  town.  The  visitor  would  have  seen 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  17 

small,  unpretentious  dwellings,  a  rough  unpainted 
meeting-house,  and  signs  of  a  rude  colonial  life.  But 
he  would  have  found  the  dwellers  in  these  homes  to 
be  men  of  education  and  refinement,  and  women  of 
energy  and  determination,  bringing  up  their  children 
in  the  fear  of  God  and  with  a  wholesome  respect  for 
man.  Out  of  such  material  was  this  nation  builded. 

Exactly  when  the  congregation  left  the  private  house 
and  began  to  worship  in  the  church  building  we  cannot 
tell,  but  probably  as  soon  as  the  seats  were  finished. 
Perched  in  the  pulpit  high  against  the  wall,  good 
Parson  Russell  looked  down  upon  his  flock,  and  dis- 
cussed and  determined  doctrinal  points  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  concerned.  The  town  voted  to  buy  a 
bell  "brought  up  by  Lieut.  Smith  and  some  other," 
and  to  pay  for  it  in  wheat  at  three  shillings  per 
bushel,  which  amounted  to  about  twenty-five  dollars. 
Finding  its  feeble  tones  were  scarcely  heard  across 
the  river,  and  fearing  lest  the  "West  Siders"  would 
recognize  in  this  grievance  the  looked  for  sign  of  a 
call  from  the  Lord,  a  parishioner  left  in  his  will  a 
sum  of  money  with  which  to  buy  a  larger  bell,  that 
might  be  heard  generally  by  the  inhabitants.  At  last 
a  committee  was  chosen  "  to  procure  such  a  bell  as  is 
at  Northampton,"  which  proves  that  the  Hadley 
people  were  progressive  and  not  to  be  outdone  by 
the  town  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 

Pending  this  action  the  lusty  bell-ringer,  standing 


18  Historic  Hadley 

in  the  audience  room,  pulled  the  rope  which  came 
down  through  the  ceiling,  and  strained  the  voice  of 
the  little  bell  to  its  utmost,  as  he  summoned  the  faith- 
ful to  the  Sunday  service.  Across  the  river  in  boats, 
and  from  north  and  south  on  foot,  on  horseback, 
and  in  rude  carts,  they  came,  fathers  and  brothers 
well  armed,  though  in  time  of  peace,  and  mothers 
with  their  younger  children,  through  summer's  heat 
and  winter's  cold,  to  sit  on  the  hard  benches  through 
the  long  and  tedious  service.  It  seems  a  significant 
fact  that  two  years  after  the  galleries  were  put  into 
the  meeting-house  the  town  passed  the  vote  which  has 
been  so  many  times  quoted:  "that  there  shall  be  some 
sticks  set  up  in  the  meeting-house,  in  several  places, 
with  some  fit  persons  placed  by  them,  to  use  them  as 
occasion  shall  require  to  keep  the  youth  from  disorder." 

The  Indians,  too,  were  scattered  throughout  the 
congregation,  and  greeted  the  settlers  with  the  friendly 
salutation  "Netop"  and  were  seeming  converts  to 
the  Christian  faith;  and  yet  the  shrewd  old-time 
fathers  felt  it  wise  not  to  trust  them  too  far  even  on 
Sunday,  and  appointed  special  guards  for  the  Lord's 
day,  and  for  lectures  and  public  meetings  for  God's 
worship.  The  citizens  were  organized  into  a  military 
company  for  which  the  townsmen  procured  a  drum, 
and  thus  in  time  of  peace  prepared  for  war. 

Attempts  were  made  to  clear  the  highways  of  pine 
trees,  logs,  woodpiles,  and  "other  encumbrances" 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  19 

which  had  collected  in  front  of  the  houses.  The  town 
voted  "their  desire  of  John  Prentice  of  New  London 
to  come  and  sitt  amongst  them  as  a  smith,"  and  offered 
him  the  "lott  sequestered  for  a  smith."  When  he 
declined  they  opened  communication  with  Deacon 
Hinsdale  at  the  Bay  "for  a  Smith  then  living  in  rox- 
berrie." 

Before  the  meeting-house  was  finished  it  was  con- 
sidered to  be  the  center  of  the  town,  for,  taking  the 
building  as  an  objective  point,  in  1663  the  General 
Court  decided  that  Hadley  should  extend  five  miles 
up  the  river,  five  miles  down  the  river,  and  four  miles 
from  the  most  eastern  point  of  the  river.  Those  who 
were  dependent  upon  their  cattle  and  grain  to  pay 
their  living  expenses  urged  that  they  needed  more 
extended  pastures,  as  much  of  their  feeding-ground  was 
barren  pine  plain.  After  a  time  they  were  given  land 
extending  two  more  miles  to  the  east,  and  the  meadows 
to  the  south. 

In  1670  the  settlers  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
assured  at  last  that  the  Lord  had  called  them  to  be- 
come a  separate  towrn,  left  their  former  brethren,  and 
built  for  themselves  a  meeting-house  on  their  own 
broad  street.  This  was  a  blow  to  Hadley  by  which 
Parson  Russell  lost  some  of  his  best  supporters.  Val- 
uable members  of  the  church  had  also  been  removed 
by  death.  The  remains  of  Governor  John  Webster 
were  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  his  fellow  townsmen 


20  Historic  Hadley 

and  laid  away  to  rest  in  the  burying-ground,  and  his 
loss  was  deeply  felt.  His  body  was  committed  to  the 
grave  by  Sexton  Richard  Montague,  who  received  for 
the  service  fifteen  shillings. 

The  Indians  still  roamed  from  place  to  place,  begging 
the  planters  to  plow  their  fields,  and  to  give  them 
medicines  and  liquor  for  fancied  ailments.  Dr.  John 
Westcarr  not  only  cured  their  diseases,  but  sold  them 
"strong  water"  contrary  to  law,  for  which  he  was 
fined  and  admonished.  His  widow,  Hannah,  spent 
his  "good  estate"  for  gay  silk  gowns,  for  which  she 
was  presented  in  the  Northampton  court.  Hadley 
people,  however,  to  a  good  degree,  lived  a  simple  life. 
They  ate  their  dinner  when  the  sun  reached  the  noon 
mark  on  the  southern  window  casing,  lighted  their 
houses  with  candle-wood,  picked  huckleberries  in  the 
streets  and  home  lots,  feasted  on  honey  stored  by  wild 
bees  in  hollow  trees,  and  washed  their  garments  with 
soft  soap  brought  from  Connecticut  by  John  Pynchon. 
The  hunters  shot  deer  for  food  and  clothing,  and 
waged  a  relentless  warfare  upon  the  wolves  which 
destroyed  their  flocks.  Hogs,  with  rings  in  their 
snouts,  and  wearing  yokes  two  and  one  half  times  the 
thickness  of  their  necks,  ran  through  Hadlcy  streets. 
Horses  and  young  cattle  grazed  on  the  Pine  Plain 
and  along  the  mountain  side. 

Thus  until  1675  the  fifty  families  which  composed 
the  settlement  were  enabled  to  maintain  themselves, 


The  Founders  and  Their  Fortunes  21 

and  live  in  peace  and  quietness,  with  none  to  disagree 
with  them  in  matters  of  religious  doctrine.  They 
governed  their  unruly  members  with  a  steady  hand. 
The  law  of  the  General  Court  that  persons  whose 
estate  did  not  exceed  .£200  should  not  wear  gold  and 
silver  lace,  or  garments  made  of  silk,  was  rigorously 
enforced.  The  wives  of  John  Westcarr,  Joseph  Bar- 
nard, Thomas  Wells,  Jr.,  Edward  Granniss,  and 
Joseph  Kellogg,  and  Maiden  Mary  Broughton,  were 
arraigned  before  Northampton  judges  as  persons  of 
small  estate  "  wrearing  silk  contrary  to  law,"  and  were 
fined,  admonished,  or  acquitted  according  to  the  gravity 
of  each  offense.  Later  certain  young  men  were  con- 
victed of  wearing  long  hair,  and  were  reprimanded  by 
the  court.  A  fine  of  three  shillings  fourpence  was 
imposed  "for  any  person  that  shall  run  and  race  and 
inordinately  Gallopp  any  Horse  in  any  of  Hadley 
streets." 

Parson  Russell,  in  the  little  square  meeting-house 
on  the  hill,  was  the  inspiration  of  the  religious  life 
of  Hadley,  as  the  building  itself  was  the  center 
of  the  community.  The  voice  of  conscience,  inter- 
preted by  the  voice  of  the  preacher,  was  more  powerful 
than  the  weak  notes  of  the  bell,  and  by  a  life  of  obe- 
dience to  its  dictates  the  early  settlers  hardened  them- 
selves against  the  time  of  trial  which  awaited  them. 


CHAPTER  II 

A  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  OLD  HADLEY 

THE  founders  of  Hadley  were  brave  and  valiant 
pioneers,  ready  to  fight  for  their  king  across  the  sea, 
or  to  defend  with  their  lives  their  homes  and  hearth- 
stones. Their  pastor,  John  Russell,  was  a  farmer 
among  farmers,  who  shared  the  joys  and  sorrows  of 
his  people.  More  than  this,  unknown  to  his  parish- 
ioners, the  unpretentious  country  parson  was  a  patriot 
and  a  hero.  Many  years  before,  when  the  little  plan- 
tation was  only  five  years  old,  there  had  come,  stealing 
from  their  New  Haven  hiding-place,  two  strangers 
whom  the  good  minister  had  received  into  his  home. 
Political  opinions  were  divided  then  as  now,  but 
Parson  Russell  hesitated  not  to  protect  those  whom 
he  believed  were  persecuted  for  conscience's  sake  from 
their  enemies  in  the  new  country,  who  would  have 
delivered  them  to  ignominious  death. 

These  fugitives,  members  of  the  High  Court  of 
Justice,  by  which  King  Charles  I  of  England  was 
dethroned  and  executed,  had,  with  the  restoration 
of  the  king's  son,  Charles  II,  fled  to  Boston,  where 
under  assumed  names  they  would  fain  have  made 


>J>    2- 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  23 

their  homes.  But  royal  vengeance  tarried  not.  Good 
friends  informed  the  refugees  that  officers  were  on 
their  track,  and  the  hunted  men,  led  by  an  Indian 
guide,  threaded  the  forests  on  foot  through  Springfield 
to  New  Haven,  where  for  a  time  they  were  allowed  to 
rest  in  peace.  News  that  special  commissioners  for 
their  arrest  had  arrived  in  Boston  was  accompanied 
by  the  warning  that  they  were  no  longer  safe  on  Con- 
necticut soil.  Then  came  the  journey  by  night  to 
Hadley,  and  the  unseen  entrance  into  a  dwelling  that 
was  indeed  to  prove  a  haven  of  refuge. 

Thus  beside  the  simple  life  of  the  country  minister's 
home,  the  unpretentious  roof-tree  covered  a  tragedy, 
for  within  a  secret  chamber  dwelt  the  regicide  judges,  . 
General  Edward  Whalley  and  General  William  Goffe, 
each  with  a  price  upon  his  head.  The  children  and 
servants  of  the  household  went  in  and  out,  and  knew 
not  of  the  strangers'  presence.  Peter  Tilton  and  other 
good  friends  brought  letters  and  supplies  sent  to  Boston 
from  the  wife  and  daughter  in  Old  England,  and 
carried  messages  in  return.  In  this  rural  home  the 
cousin  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  his  son-in-law,  chief 
officers  in  the  Lord  Protector's  army,  dragged  out  the  \ 
remnant  of  their  lives  in  constant  apprehension  of 
discovery.  Creeping  forth  at  night,  they  may  have 
been  seen  by  a  belated  traveler,  but  such  an  one, 
imagining  that  spirits  walked  abroad,  disturbed  them 
not.  By  day,  if  alarms  arose,  they  descended  through 


24  Historic  Hadley 

the  trap-door  in  their  closet  to  the  cellar,  and  there 
remained  concealed.  Deprived  of  all  companionship, 
with  little  news  from  the  outside  world,  their  linger- 
ing hopes  grew  fainter,  until,  it  is  believed,  about 
1676,  the  old  man  Whalley  died,  and  was  buried  in 
an  unknown  grave.  With  the  safety  and  maintenance 
of  these  fugitives,  added  to  the  many  other  cares  upon 
his  mind  and  heart,  the  friendly  host  and  jailer  settled 
the  petty  details  of  every-day  life,  adjusted  disputes 
with  regard  to  seating  the  meeting-house,  and  looked 
sharply  after  the  interests  of  the  grammar  school,  on 
which  depended  the  educational  welfare  of  the  youth. 

Suddenly,  one  morning,  when  not  a  cloud  was  in 
the  sky,  the  sound  of  heavy  ordnance,  as  of  great  guns 
firing  charge  after  charge,  shook  the  earth,  and  could 
not  be  explained.  Frightened  by  this  strange  phenom- 
enon, the  despised  red  "salvages,"  considered  to  be  as 
harmless  as  the  lazy  dogs  about  the  doors,  disappeared 
from  their  accustomed  haunts.  The  record  states: 
"They  plucked  up  their  wigwams  and  took  away  the 
goods  they  had  laid  up  in  our  houses." 

News  of  the  Indian  uprising  led  by  King  Philip  had 
reached  Hadley,  and  the  strange  actions  of  the  natives 
about  the  settlement  had  been  noted,  but  rather  with 
relief  than  alarm.  Wise  men  were  anxious,  but  the 
majority  felt  no  fear.  Was  not  the  whole  county 
protected  by  the  "Hampshire  Troop  of  Horsemen," 
under  the  leadership  of  Captain  John  Pynchon  of 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  25 

Springfield?  When  this  famous  company  paraded 
up  and  down  Hadley  street,  in  uniforms  decked  with 
gold  and  silver  lace  and  gay  silk  sashes,  with  gaudy 
trappings  for  the  horses,  the  Indians  looked  on  in 
speechless  admiration,  eager  to  see  the  red  flag  flutter 
and  to  hear  the  martial  strains.  And,  although  less 
than  twenty  Hadley  men  were  enrolled  in  this  troop, 
yet  did  not  the  Indians  know  that  every  farmer  had 
a  musket,  and  a  pike  fourteen  feet  long,  and  that 
some  had  also  the  lighter  snaphance,  with  barrel 
three  and  one  half  feet  in  length  ?  The  Hadley  militia 
also  was  ready  for  defense,  with  Samuel  Smith  as  its 
lieutenant,  and  Aaron  Cooke,  Jr.,  for  its  ensign. 
Civilized  men,  thus  armed  and  well  drilled  in  the  fifty- 
eight  postures  of  the  gun,  and  the  various  maneuvers 
of  the  pike,  ought  surely  to  be  able  to  cope  with  naked, 
ignorant  savages.  Thus  reasoned  many,  when  almost 
without  warning  a  breathless  runner  brought  tidings 
of  the  massacre  at  Brookfield,  and  terror  reigned  in 
every  heart. 

The  Indians  in  the  fort  across  the  river,  upon  hearing 
the  news,  gave  "  eleven  triumphing  shouts,"  waking  the 
echoes  far  and  near.  Too  late  the  settlers  realized  the 
folly  of  having  so  carelessly  supplied  the  natives  with 
guns,  and  attempted  peaceably  to  disarm  them,  but 
in  vain.  Their  headquarters  was  the  Indian  fort 
half-way  between  Northampton  and  Hatfield.  Cap- 
tains Lothrop  and  Beers,  with  about  one  hundred 


26  Historic  Hadley 

men,  crossed  the  river  to  Hatfield,  while  reenforce- 
ments  from  Northampton  came  to  meet  them,  in- 
tending to  parley  with  the  Indians  and  to  try  to 
persuade  them  to  give  up  their  weapons.  They  found 
the  fort  deserted,  but,  as  they  were  following  the 
trail,  suddenly  the  enemy,  hidden  in  the  woods,  "let 
fly  40  guns."  The  fight  lasted  three  hours,  during 
which  nine  men  from  nine  different  towns  were  killed, 
Azariah  Dickinson,  son  of  Nathaniel,  of  Hadley,  being 
among  the  first  to  fall.  Too  late  the  soldiers  realized 
that  men  accustomed  to  march  in  bodies,  though  well 
trained  in  the  arts  of  war,  could  not  compete  with 
an  unseen  foe,  concealed  behind  trees  and  unencum- 
bered with  clothing.  Pikes  and  heavy  muskets  were 
of  no  avail.  This  was  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 

Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  in  his  story  of  these  battles, 
says:  "Many  sins  are  so  grown  in  fashion  that  it 
becomes  a  question  whether  they  be  sins  or  not,"  and 
«  especially  mentions  "intolerable  pride  in  clothes  and 
hair."  The  Puritans  firmly  believed  that  calamities 
came  in  punishment  for  sin.  The  Hadley  people  were 
not  able  now,  however,  to  spend  much  time  in  repen- 
tance for  minor  transgressions,  as  safety  was  to  be 
secured  only  by  constant  vigilance.  At  this  time,  ac- 
cording to  an  oft-told  tale,  the  settlers  were  observing 
a  fast  day  service  in  the  church  when  it  was  surrounded 
and  attacked  by  a  body  of  Indians.  "Suddenlv,  in 
the  midst  of  the  people,  there  appeared  a  man  of  very 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  27 

venerable  aspect  and  different  from  the  inhabitants 
in  his  apparel,  who  took  the  command,  arranged  and 
ordered  them  in  the  best  military  manner,  and  under 
his  direction  they  repelled  and  routed  the  Indians  and 
the  town  was  saved.  .  .  .  The  inhabitants  could  not 
account  for  the  phenomenon,  but  by  considering  that 
person  as  an  Angel  of  God.  .  .  .  The  Angel  was  cer- 
tainly General  Goffe."  Thus  runs  the  tale  as  related 
by  the  historian  of  olden  time.  For  many  years  this 
story  was  believed,  and  the  scene,  as  depicted  in  the 
old  engraving,  "The  Angel  of  Hadley,"  is  to-day 
preserved  in  many  homes.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  Peveril 
of  the  Peak,  related  the  incident,  and  only  recently  has 
the  modern  historian  discovered  that  Hadley  was  not 
attacked  that  day,  September,  1675,  and  that  the  story 
is  based  only  upon  a  tradition  which  has  no  real 
foundation. 

But  though  this  particular  attack  may  not  have 
been  made,  yet  the  air  was  full  of  rumors  of  war,  and 
the  panic-stricken  inhabitants  lived  in  constant  expec- 
tation of  slaughter  and  destruction.  We  can  hardly 
realize  the  terror  of  those  days  in  the  unprotected 
hamlet,  when  the  forests  all  about  seemed  filled  with 
the  shadows  of  unseen  foes.  Again  and  again,  alarmed 
by  some  unknown  cause,  the  cattle  and  horses  came 
rushing  into  the  clearing  in  a  wild  stampede,  and  the 
women  and  children  hid  in  the  darkest  corners  of  their 
homes,  and  held  their  breath  for  fear.  Captain 


28  Historic  Hadlcy 

Lothrop,  with  seventy  men,  started  toward  Deerfield  to 
act  as  a  guard  for  a  train  of  carts  laden  with  grain  for 
Hadley.  A  sudden  attack  at  Muddy  Brook  caused  its 
waters  to  flow  red  with  the  blood  of  fifty-four  soldiers 
and  seventeen  teamsters,  taken  off  their  guard  as  they 
were  plucking  grapes  by  the  roadside,  while  the  brave 
captain,  attempting  to  rally  his  men,  fell  to  rise  no 
more.  The  words  of  the  historian  give  but  little  idea 
of  the  desolation  which  that  fated  expedition  brought 
to  many  happy  homes.  He  says:  "This  was  a  black 
and  fatal  day,  wherein  wrere  8  persons  made  widows 
and  20  children  made  fatherless,  all  in  one  little  plan- 
tation, and  above  60  persons  buried  in  one  dreadful 
grave."  The  brook,  so  muddy  then,  has  since  been 
known  as  Bloody  Brook.  The  "dreadful  grave"  is 
marked  by  a  monument  with  an  appropriate  inscrip- 
tion that  all  the  world  may  read.  John  Barnard,  son 
of  Francis  Barnard  of  Hadley,  was  among  the  teamsters 
slain  on  this  expedition. 

Alarmed  by  this  calamity,  the  Commissioners  of  the 
New  England  Colonies  despatched  three  hundred 
Massachusetts  militia  and  two  hundred  Connecticut 
soldiers  for  the  defense  of  Hampshire  County.  Major 
Pynchon  was  in  Hadley  commanding  these  forces 
when  an  express  reached  him  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  with  the  warning  that  five  hundred  of  King 
Philip's  men  were  in  readiness  to  fall  upon  Springfield. 
Almost  frantic  the  Major  with  his  troops  started  toward 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  29 

the  south,  to  see  afar  off  the  sky  red  with  the  flames  of 
thirty-two  blazing  houses,  only  thirteen  remaining  un- 
harmed. This  disaster  was  not  wrought  by  Philip, 
but  by  the  near  neighbors  and  sometime  friends  under 
Wequogon,  that  peaceful  sachem  who  signed  the  deed 
by  which  the  meadow  of  Hockanum  was  added  to 
Hadley.  That  those  who  had  almost  been  inmates  of 
their  homes  could  do  such  fearful  wrong  to  their 
benefactors  created  in  the  hearts  of  the  settlers  a 
desire  for  revenge.  By  order  of  the  soldiers  an  old 
squaw  was  torn  to  pieces  by  dogs,  and  other  cruel  acts  ' 
unworthy  of  a  civilized  people  were  committed.  Good 
Parson  Russell,  feeling  the  helplessness  of  men,  wrote: 
"Our  town  of  Hadley  is  now  like  to  drink  next,  if 
mercy  prevent  not,  of  this  bitter  cup.  We  are  but 
about  50  families  and  now  left  solitary.  We  desire  to 
repose  our  confidence  in  the  living  and  eternal  God 
who  is  the  refuge  of  his  people." 

The  winter  of  1675  and  1676  was  a  season  of  gloom. 
The  Indians  seldom  fought  when  the  trees  were  destitute  - 
of  leaves,  and  so  it  was  determined  to  prepare  for  a 
state  of  siege.  In  spite  of  the  cold  and  storm  all  able- 
bodied  men  were  compelled  to  work  upon  the  "pali- 
saides,"  which  were  built  crossing  the  home  lots  behind 
the  buildings  on  both  sides  of  the  street,  and  across  at 
either  end.  Solid  stakes  of  timber  eight  feet  long  were 
split  and  sharpened,  then  driven  close  together  two 
feet  into  the  ground.  To  these  were  nailed  heavy 


30  Historic  Hadley 

horizontal  slabs  a  few  inches  below  the  top,  thus 
making  a  fence  too  high  and  formidable  to  climb  and 
too  thick  for  bullets  to  penetrate.  This  fortified  enclo- 
sure was  about  a  mile  long,  with  strong  gates  in  each 
of  the  four  sides.  The  fighting  men  were  divided  into 
military  watches,  called  squadrons,  and  constant  guard 
was  kept  both  night  and  day.  Rumors  were  abroad 
that  Philip  and  his  men  were  hovering  near,  and 
though  all  these  reports  were  unconfirmed,  yet  in 
imagination  the  mountain  sides  swarmed  with  the 
followers  of  that  dreaded  chieftain  whose  very  name 
struck  terror  to  the  bravest  heart.  One  morning  in 
April,  1676,  Deacon  Richard  Goodman,  with  a  party 
of  men,  went  cautiously  out  to  work  in  Hockanum 
meadow.  The  deacon  carelessly  moved  a  little  beyond 
the  guards,  the  better  to  observe  his  fences,  when  he 
fell  shot  through  the  heart,  and  a  scouting  party, 
rushing  from  the  woods,  seized  upon  Thomas  Reed 
and  dragged  him  away.  Thus  a  widow  and  eight 
children  were  added  to  the  helpless  ones  to  be  main- 
tained arid  protected  by  the  town  fathers.  After  this 
it  was  ordered  that  when  the  farmers  were  haying  in 
Hockanum  and  Fort  meadows  all  the  garrison,  except 
eight  left  for  the  security  of  the  women  and  children, 
should  attend  them  as  a  guard,  and  that  not  less  than 
forty  nor  more  than  fifty  men  at  one  time  should  work 
in  the  meadows. 

About  this  time  Samuel  Smith,  Lieutenant  of  the 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  31 

"  train-band,"  being  near  eighty  years  of  age,  requested 
to  be  freed  from  military  service,  and  Philip  Smith, 
his  son,  was  chosen  in  his  place.  That  same  year 
Joseph  Kellogg  was  an  ensign,  and  the  next  year  he  was 
promoted  to  be  lieutenant.  Aaron  Cooke,  who  was 
captain  of  the  militia  for  thirty-five  years,  inherited 
from  his  father  a  book  entitled  "  The  Compleat  Body 
of  the  Art  Military,"  and  from  his  study  of  this  prob- 
ably acquired  his  excellence  in  the  profession  of  arms. 
But  the  glory  of  the  Hampshire  troopers  caused  the 
plain  militia  men  to  seem  but  insignificant,  although 
when  active  service  was  required  the  farmer  soldiers 
were  always  at  the  front. 

The  minister's  house  being  the  headquarters  of  the 
officers  of  the  troop,  it  has  been  supposed  that  Goffe, 
the  regicide,  removed  to  the  home  of  Peter  Tilton, 
where  he  remained  the  rest  of  his  life.  Others  believe 
that  fearing  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep  his  presence 
a  secret  when  the  town  and  even  his  place  of  refuge 
was  filled  with  soldiers,  Parson  Russell  contrived  to 
have  his  guest  escorted  to  Hartford,  and  settled  among 
friends.  The  fact  that  Goffe's  diary,  from  which  much 
is  learned  about  his  life  in  New  England,  was  found 
among  the  effects  left  by  Parson  Russell,  gives  us 
reason  to  believe  that  the  wanderer  was  permitted  to 
return  and  spend  his  last  days  in  Hadley  among  the 
few  faithful  ones  entrusted  with  the  secret  of  his 
presence.  Communication  with  his  wife  and  children 


32  Historic  Hadley 

failed,  and  for  this  reason,  wherever  he  was,  he  died 
a  broken-hearted  man.  The  tradition  in  Hadley  that 
two  strangers  were  buried  in  Parson  Russell's  cellar 
gives  rise  to  the  belief  that  the  graves  of  both  regicides 
may  have  been  concealed  beneath  that  gloomy  chamber 
where  they  had  so  often  taken  refuge.  Wherever 
their  graves  may  have  been,  their  poor  bodies  remained 
undiscovered,  and  rested  in  peace. 

Thomas  Reed,  the  captive  carried  away  from  Hock- 
anum  meadow,  escaped  and  returned  Avith  the  infor- 
mation that  the  Indians  were  gathering  in  force  near 
Deerfield  and  were  "secure  and  scornful,"  boasting 
of  great  things  they  had  done  and  should  do.  Alarmed 
by  this  report  the  troops  and  citizens  of  the  river 
towns  agreed  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  at  the  enemy, 
and  if  possible  to  attack  him  in  his  camp  by  night. 
A  company  of  fifteen  Hadley  men,  under  sergeants 
John  Dickinson  and  Joseph  Kellogg,  crossed  the  upper 
ferry  and  joined  the  mounted  force  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  soldiers  from  Springfield,  Westfield,  North- 
ampton, and  Hatfield,  commanded  by  Captain  William 
Turner.  The  Indian  encampment  was  reached  under 
cover  of  the  darkness,  according  to  the  plan,  and  the 
inmates  suffered  a  "great  and  notable  slaughter";  but 
the  outcome  of  the  expedition  was  disastrous,  for  on 
the  return  march  the  Indians  fell  upon  the  line,  killed 
Captain  Turner  and  thirty-eight  of  his  men,  and 
captured  others,  some  of  whom  were  afterward  tor- 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  33 

tured  and  burned  at  the  stake.  Isaac  Harrison  and 
John  Crow  of  Hadley  were  among  the  victims,  and 
Jonathan  Wells,  wounded  and  suffering,  reached  the 
settlement  after  wandering  three  days  in  the  woods. 
A  great  number  of  Indians  perished  in  this  "Falls 
Fight,"  and  many  were  drowned  in  the  river.  The 
loss  of  the  English  was  so  great,  however,  that  it 
could  hardly  be  considered  a  victory  on  their  part, 
for  the  Indian  camp  was  not  broken  up,  and  those 
remaining  were  aroused  to  a  greater  fury  by  the 
attack,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  many  of  their 
women  and  children. 

It  seemed  now  most  imperative  that  the  headquarters 
of  the  Indians  should  be  permanently  destroyed  so 
that  the  settlers  could  cultivate  their  fields  and  harvest 
their  crops  in  peace.  With  this  in  view  another  expe- 
dition into  Hampshire  County  was  organized  by  sol- 
diers from  Connecticut  and  southern  Massachusetts, 
and  the  first  division,  consisting  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  mounted  Englishmen  and  two  hundred  friendly 
Indians  on  foot,  started  from  Norwich  and  on  the 
seventh  day  arrived  in  Hadley  hungry  and  footsore. 
The  horsemen  were  mostly  from  towns  along  Long 
Island  Sound,  and  the  Indians  were  Pequots,  Mohe- 
gans,  and  Niantics,  whose  appearance  in  the  streets 
almost  caused  a  panic,  as  the  inhabitants  had  never 
before  seen  so  large  a  body  of  friendly  Indians  together, 
and  could  not  realize  that  although  they  had  copper- 


34  Historic  Hadley 

colored  faces,  their  "hearts  were  white."  June  8, 
while  waiting  for  the  Massachusetts  contingent,  a 
great  parade  was  held,  and  the  "Army  from  Connec- 
ticut," four  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  with  colors 
flying,  marched  up  and  down  Hadley  street  to 
the  sound  of  drum  and  fife.  Provisions  of  bread, 
pork,  and  liquor  were  brought  from  Norwich,  but  not 
in  a  sufficient  quantity  to  satisfy  the  soldiers,  who 
were  billeted  in  the  homes  of  the  citizens,  and  fed 
with  such  supplies  as  could  be  secured.  Their  bread 
was  found  to  be  unfit  for  use  on  account  of  a  "blue 
mould"  with  which  it  was  discolored,  and  the  tobacco 
demanded  was  difficult  to  obtain. 

The  town  was  filled  with  troops  and  every  home 
was  crowded  in  most  uncomfortable  fashion.  Joseph 
Kellogg  and  Samuel  Partrigg  were  kept  busy  ferrying 
passengers  and  horses  across  the  river,  Samuel  Porter 
acted  as  a  nurse,  Richard  Montague,  the  grave-digger, 
baked  the  soldiers'  bread,  and  Timothy  Nash  repaired 
their  arms.  Dr.  William  Locke,  who  came  to  Hadley 
with  Captain  Lothrop,  dressed  wounds  and  dispensed 
physic  to  each  in  turn,  as  need  required.  Mr.  Russell 
recorded  that  the  board  of  the  officers,  whom  he  enter- 
tained, was  paid,  but  that  his  wife  Rebecca  never 
received  anything  for  her  great  "trouble,  cumber  and 
care."  Probably  at  this  time  she  was  assisted  by  the 
negro  slaves  whom  her  husband  left  as  part  of  his 
estate.  Those  of  the  citizens  who  were  inclined  to 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  35 

murmur  were  thankful  indeed  when  what  might  have 
been  a  terrible  calamity  was  turned  into  a  victory  by 
the  presence  of  their  troublesome  guests. 

June  12,  1676,  a  double  surprise  occurred,  for  about 
two  hundred  river  Indians,  not  knowing  that  four 
hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  from  the  south  had  recently 
arrived,  made  an  attack  on  Hadley  and  were  "terribly 
frighted  with  the  report  and  slaughter  made  amongst 
them  by  the  Great  Gun."  Whether  the  town  had  ob- 
tained this  terrible  weapon,  or  whether  the  soldiers 
brought  it  with  them,  we  cannot  tell,  and  the  enemy 
did  not  stop  to  find  out.  It  was  only  a  very  small 
cannon,  but  it  did  good  service  on  this  and  other 
occasions  and  caused  the  Indians  to  keep  at  a  respectful 
distance.  This  attack  aroused  the  settlers  to  take 
extra  precautions  for  the  safety  of  the  helpless  ones 
entrusted  to  their  care.  Stockades  were  built  around 
the  meeting-house  that  the  women  and  children  might 
have  a  place  of  refuge  in  case  the  enemy  should  get 
inside  the  fortifications.  Every  man  was  compelled 
to  go  to  meeting  armed,  or  to  pay  a  fine  of  twelve- 
pence,  and  his  arms  were  not  to  be  stacked  at  the  door 
but  were  to  lie  ready  at  his  hand.  In  this  manner  the 
Hadley  people  lived,  year  after  year,  fearing  for  their 
lives  until  the  very  fear  became  a  custom.  Armed 
men  gathered  in  town-meeting  and  voted  to  build  new 
fortifications,  with  rails  ten  feet  long  and  three  inches 
thick,  set  two  feet  into  the  ground.  Each  squadron 


36  Historic  Hadley 

erected  a  watch  house  within  whose  shelter  one  of 
their  number  always  was  on  guard.  All  the  males 
over  sixteen,  with  an  escort  of  soldiers,  went  out  to 
clear  the  Pine  Plain  east  of  the  town  to  make  it  fit  for 
pasture.  The  Indians  burned  the  corn  mill  with  the 
house  adjoining,  and  continued  their  depredations  on 
outlying  property  which  was  of  necessity  left  un- 
guarded. It  was  hoped  that  the  death  of  King 
Philip  in  1676  might  bring  the  Indian  warfare  to 
a  close,  but  his  followers,  having  tasted  blood,  were 
no  longer  dependent  on  him  as  a  leader  in  their  struggle 
with  the  whites.  War  between  England  and  France 
caused  friction  among  the  colonies,  and  resulted  in 
battles  in  which  the  Indians  were  used  as  allies,  and 
many  more  years  of  anxiety  were  spent  in  "scouting 
in  woods,"  "watching  by  day  and  warding  by  night," 
repairing  fortifications,  and  raising  the  wherewithal  to 
pay  the  burdensome  taxes.  Hadley,  at  this  time  having 
three  hundred  and  twelve  inhabitants,  had  a  curious 
way  of  settling  accounts.  The  town,  being  indebted 
to  a  citizen,  subtracted  his  tax  rate  and  the  rates  of 
others  to  whom  he  owed  money,  and  paid  him  the 
balance  in  wheat  and  Indian  corn. 

Realizing  that  war  was  demoralizing,  those  in  au- 
thority tried  to  exercise  the  greater  watchfulness  as  to 
the  manners  of  the  people.  Gershom  Hawkes  was 
fined  for  having  in  his  possession  a  pack  of  cards,  and 
refusing  to  tell  where  he  obtained  them,  and  "  Joseph 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  37 

Kellogg,  Jr.,  and  Gershom  Hawkes  were  fined  10s. 
each  for  breach  of  the  Sabbath,  having  travelled  till  — 
midnight  the  night  before  the  Sabbath."  The  gen- 
ealogy tells  us  that  the  said  Gershom  Hawkes  "died 
young,"  so  his  unruly  actions  did  not  long  trouble  his 
associates,  and  probably  Joseph  Kellogg,  senior,  was 
not  sorry.  Jane  Jackson,  servant  of  Lieutenant  Philip 
Smith,  was  given  twenty  lashes  on  her  bare  back  before 
the  court  for  stealing  from  her  master.  Parents  were 
obliged  to  pay  for  glass  in  the  meeting-house  windows  — 
broken  by  their  mischievous  boys.  Samuel  Nash,  nine 
years  old,  having  been  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse, 
which  was  frightened  by  a  dog,  the  boy's  father  brought 
suit  against  Mr.  Goodwin,  the  owner  of  the  dog.  The 
jury  returned  the  following  verdict:  "It  doth  not 
appeare  yt  Mr.  Goodwin  or  Mrs.  Goodwin  had  suffi- 
cient notice  given  them  of  their  dog's  curstness  or  any 
warning  to  restrayne  their  dog,  and  therefore  the  Corte 
doth  acquit  them,  and  accounteth  Goodman  Nash  or 
his  wife  blameworthy  in  not  having  a  more  strict 
watch  over  their  son,  but  letting  him  goe  to  fetch  ye  , 
mare  from  pasture  with  such  mean  tackling." 

As  if  Hadley  had  not  enough  to  endure  from  with- 
in and  without,  to  the  natural  fears  of  her  citizens 
were  added  superstitious  terrors,  for  in  the  midst  of 
the  second  Indian  war  Mrs.  Mary  Webster,  reputed 
to  be  a  witch,  began  to  cast  an  evil  eye  about  her  to 
see  what  mischief  she  might  do.  As  a  consequence, 


38  Historic  Hadley 

cattle  would  stop  in  front  of  her  house  and  stand 
trembling  until  by  her  magic  power  she  allowed  them 
to  pass.  A  load  of  hay,  upset  by  her  machinations, 
returned  to  its  normal  position  without  help  from 
human  hands,  when  the  woman  was  threatened  by 
the  driver.  She  entered  the  door  of  a  neighbor's  house, 
when  lo,  the  baby  in  the  cradle  was  raised  three  feet 
in  air,  and  replaced  by  an  unseen  power  upon  its 
pillow.  A  hen  flew  down  the  chimney  into  a  pot  of 
boiling  water,  and  the  witch  was  found  to  be  suffering 
from  a  scald.  Enraged,  the  citizens  "haled  her  down 
to  Boston,"  where,  after  trial,  she  was  acquitted  and 
returned  in  triumph  to  her  home,  only  to  revenge 
herself  upon  Deacon  Philip  Smith,  "a  man  for  devo- 
tion, sanctity,  gravity  and  all  that  was  honest,  exceeding 
exemplary." 

This  valuable  citizen  was,  according  to  Cotton 
Mather,  "murdered  with  an  hideous  witchcraft."  "A 
wretched  woman  of  the  town,  being  dissatisfied  at  his 
just  care  about  her,  expressed  herself  unto  him  in  such 
a  manner  that  he  declared  himself  apprehensive  of 
receiving  mischief  at  her  hands."  He  began  to  be 
"very  valetudinarious "  and,  after  wonderful  manifes- 
tations in  the  sick-room,  died,  and  his  body  was  found 
"full  of  holes  that  seemed  to  be  made  with  awls,"  all 
of  which  is  related  in  the  Magnalia,  with  full  particulars 
added.  While  the  sufferer  was  yet  alive,  a  number  of 
brisk  lads  dragged  the  witch  out  of  the  house,  hung 


A  Reign  of  Terror  in  Old  Hadley  39 

her  up  until  nearly  dead,  and  then  buried  her  in  the 
snow,  but,  according  to  the  record,  "It  happened  that 
she  survived  and  the  melancholy  man  died."  Mary 
Webster  lived  eleven  years  after  her  hanging,  and  died 
a  natural  death,  a  proof  to  many  minds  that  she  really 
was  a  witch. 

Parson  John  Russell,  after  the  death  of  both  the 
regicides  had  removed  the  shadow  from  his  home,  was 
able  to  devote  more  time  and  energy  to  the  work 
among  his  chosen  people.  His  letters  from  Hadley  to 
officials  in  Boston,  during  the  Indian  wars,  contain 
much  valuable  information  concerning  the  history  of 
the  town.  May,  1665,  he  preached  the  election  sermon 
at  Boston,  taking  for  his  text  the  words,  "  Pray  for  the 
peace  of  Jerusalem.  They  shall  prosper  that  love  **• 
Thee."  This  appeal  from  one  living  in  Hadley  at 
that  critical  period  was  most  significant  and  must  have 
come  home  to  every  heart.  Worn  out  with  Indian 
alarms,  hiding  regicides,  and  fighting  witchcraft,  on 
December  10,  1692,  John  Russell,  the  first  minister 
of  Hadley,  died,  and  in  the  depth  of  winter  his  body 
was  carried  to  the  burying-ground  and  laid  beside  his 
wife  Rebecca.  The  inscription  on  the  table  of  sand- 
stone placed  above  his  grave  is  studied  to-day  with 
exceeding  interest  by  the  many  visitors  to  this  historic 
cemetery.  His  memory  is  honored  as  that  of  one  who  \ 
was,  by  virtue  of  his  courage  and  fidelity,  the  hero  of 
Old  Hadley. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  CHURCH  IN  OLD  HADLEY 

I.    The  Pastorate  of  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey 

THE  bell  procured  in  1690  by  Goodman  Partrigg 
rang  out  a  clamorous  peal  at  early  dawn  the  16th  of 
October,  1695,  and  soon  the  voters  of  Hadley  were 
wending  their  way  to  the  little  meeting-house  on  the 
hill.  The  forests  were  resplendent  in  gay  autumnal 
garb,  but  the  town  fathers,  intent  on  business  vital  to 
the  welfare  of  the  community,  had  no  time  to  note 
the  beauties  of  nature.  With  guns  in  hand,  they  took 
their  seats  in  the  dilapidated  sanctuary,  and  there,  in 
town-meeting  assembled,  voted:  "That  we  doe  ernestly 
desire  ye  Rev.  Mr.  Isack  Chancy  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  settle  amongst  us  to  be  our  minister." 

Immediately  after  Parson  Russell's  death,  two  "  mes- 
sengers" had  been  appointed  to  secure  a  pastor,  but 
the  candidates  discovered,  Samuel  Moody  and  Simon 
Bradstreet,  though  acceptable  in  the  pulpit,  each  re- 
quired as  salary  more  corn,  wheat,  and  peas  than  the 
people  could  afford  to  pay.  At  last,  July,  1695,  Rev. 
Isaac  Chauncey,  son  of  Parson  Israel  Chauncey  of 


THE  RUSSELL  CHURCH.     ERECTED  IN  1808 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  41 

Stratford,  and  grandson  of  Rev.  Charles  Chauncey,  the 
august  president  of  Harvard  College,  was  engaged  as 
a  supply,  and  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  were  taken  by 
storm.  In  their  cautious  and  dignified  manner  they 
proceeded  to  make  overtures  to  this  bright  young 
preacher,  and  were  rejoiced  when  he  accepted  their 
call,  on  terms  with  which  they  could  comply.  The 
parish  bought  of  Samuel,  the  son  of  Parson  Russell, 
the  home  of  their  first  minister  for  £120,  and  spent 
£20  on  repairs  and  improvements.  They  offered  Mr. 
Chauncey  the  home  lot  and  buildings,  twenty  acres 
of  meadow  land,  a  salary  of  £70  a  year  in  "  provision  \ 
pay,"  for  three  years,  and  afterwards  £80  annually  / 
and  his  firewood.  After  his  ordination  the  new  pastor 
betook  himself  straightway  to  some  unknown  place 
for  Sarah,  his  bride,  and  the  newly  married  pair  set 
themselves  bravely  at  work  to  do  their  utmost  in  the 
parish  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  them.  The  en- 
thusiastic utterance  of  a  youth  but  twenty-five  years 
old,  and  fresh  from  Harvard  College,  must  have  caused  J 
some  agitation  among  the  grave  and  reverend  fathers 
in  his  congregation,  but  their  minds  were  so  much 
perturbed  by  alarms  from  without  that  they  had  no 
inclination  to  quarrel  with  their  minister,  who  soon 
was  to  be  called  upon  for  sympathy  and  consolation 
in  an  hour  of  urgent  need. 

A  party  of  Indians  from  Albany,  encamped  above 
Hatfield,   though  supposed   to   be   friendly,   were   the 


42  Historic  Hadley 

cause  of  much  anxiety  to  the  elders  in  the  community, 
who,  remembering  the  days  of  old,  felt  their  presence 
to  be  a  menace.  Another  typical  October  morning 
dawned  in  the  lovely  valley.  Richard  Church,  the 
Hadley  tailor,  and  grandson  of  Richard  the  first  settler, 
accompanied  by  Samuel  Barnard  and  Ebenezer  Smith, 
went  hunting  in  the  eastern  woods.  Toward  night 
two  badly  frightened  boys  rushed  into  the  broad  street, 
with  news  that  after  leaving  their  companion  they 
had  heard  gun  shots,  accompanied  by  savage  yells, 
away  in  the  depths  of  the  forest.  Then  there  was 
gathering  of  forces  from  three  neighboring  towns,  and 
hurried  departure  through  the  evening  shadows,  and 
noiseless  searching  among  rocks  and  underbrush 
and  fallen  trunks  of  trees,  until,  almost  at  daybreak, 
the  seekers  found  the  object  of  their  quest.  Trans- 
fixed by  arrows  and  mutilated  by  bullets,  with  scalp 
torn  away  and  clothing  destroyed,  the  body  of  Richard 
Church  was  tenderly  carried  to  the  home  where  waited 
his  poor  young  bride,  Sarah  Bartlett,  and  his  mother, 
Widow  Mary  Church. 

Determined  that  the  murderers  should  be  punished, 
the  friends  and  neighbors  of  the  hapless  young  man 
started  in  hot  pursuit,  and  having  had  long  years  of 
training  in  the  ways  of  savage  warriors,  beat  the  red 
miscreants  at  their  own  game.  The  guilty  Indians 
were  discovered  deep  hidden  in  a  cave  on  the  west 
end  of  Mount  Toby,  and  were  "  haled  "  not  too  gently 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  43 

to  Northampton,  loaded  with  irons  hastily  constructed 
by  the  village  blacksmith,  and,  as  there  was  no  prison, 
were  confined  in  a  private  house  with  a  grim  constable 
as  their  jailer.  John  Pynchon,  Samuel  Partrigg, 
Joseph  Hawley,  and  Aaron  Cooke,  "Esquires,"  and 
Joseph  Parsons,  "  Gentleman,"  were  especially  com- 
missioned to  hold  a  court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer, 
October  21,  1696,  for  the  trial  of  these  cases,  and 
Sheriff  Samuel  Porter  of  Hadley  took  care  that  the 
criminals  were  prodttced  before  the  judges.  Other 
Indians,  frightened  at  the  determination  of  the  settlers, 
turned  state's  evidence  and  the  prisoners  were  speedily 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  to  death.  Their 
execution  in  Northampton  was  witnessed  by  an  im- 
mense crowd  from  all  the  country  round.  This  was 
the  first  instance  of  capital  punishment  in  Hampshire 
County.  Thus  with  a  tragedy  among  his  people  was 
inaugurated  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey, 
and  one  of  the  first  duties  of  that  opening  year  must 
have  been  to  extend  the  consolations  of  religion  to  the 
widowed  bride  and  bereaved  mother  of  Richard  Church. 
Mr.  Chauncey  came  to  Hadley  just  in  time  to  settle 
the  controversy  about  the  dignity  of  the  seats  in  the 
meeting-house  gallery.  It  was  voted  that  "Ye  first 
seat  in  ye  front  gallerye  is  look  to  be  eaquall  with  ye 
second  seat  in  the  body  of  ye  meeting-house,  and  that 
ye  west  end  of  ye  side  gallerye  to  be  eaquall  with  ye 
third  seat  in  ye  body  of  ye  meeting-house."  The 


44  Historic  Hadley 

building  itself,  having  been  used  as  a  fort  and  place  of 
refuge  for  so  many  years,  was  in  a  dilapidated  condi- 
tion, but  war  time  was  not  a  propitious  season  in 
which  to  build  a  new  one.  At  last  the  peace  of 
Utrecht  ended  the  long  struggle,  and  the  citizens 
thanked  God  and  took  courage. 

Now  came  a  busy  time  for  Hadley.  Her  people, 
cooped  up  so  long  behind  the  fortifications,  tore  down 
the  stockades,  planted  new  fields,  mended  the  fences, 
repaired  their  dwellings,  and  resumed  the  business 
of  peaceful  every-day  life.  The  work  of  collecting  tur- 
pentine from  pine  trees  and  shipping  it  to  Hartford, 
though  very  profitable,  had  to  be  restricted  lest  all  the 
pines  remaining  be  permanently  injured.  The  town 
gave  Deacon  Smith  and  Lieutenant  Nash  permission 
to  get  turpentine  from  the  trees  on  Spruce  Hill,  the 
quantity  not  to  exceed  one  thousand  boxes.  The  tur- 
pentine was  often  exchanged  for  rum,  as  minister  and 
deacons  and  all  the  church  members  drank  liquor  as 
regularly  as  they  ate  their  daily  bread,  and  the  licensed 
innkeepers,  Hezekiah  Dickinson  and  Joseph  Smith, 
could  not  buy  or  make  enough  to  supply  their  guests. 
Sometimes  men  were  allowed  to  sell  rum  in  their  own 
homes,  as  in  the  case  of  Richard  Goodman,  who  was 
a  "retailer"  before  he  kept  the  ferry.  Philip  Smith 
was  permitted  to  sell  to  those  "in  real  need,"  and 
Samuel  Partrigg  to  sell  to  the  "neighbors."  Andrew 
Warner  was  a  "  Maltster,"  and  Samuel  Porter  had  a 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  45 

"still  and  worm,"  and  doubtless  both  ministered  to 
these  "  real  needs  "  of  neighbors  far  and  near.  Orange 
Warner  was  the  last  maltster  of  Hadley.  But  alto- 
gether the  people  could  not  manufacture  enough  of 
any  kind  of  drink  to  satisfy  the  demand,  so  aqua  vitse 
was  imported,  and  rum  was  brought  in  hogsheads  and 
sold  in  small  amounts  to  those  inveterate  drinkers, 
who  seldom  became  drunken. 

Visitors  to  the  valley,  after  its  people  had  repaired 
the  ruin  wrought  by  the  Indian  wars,  saw  perched 
upon  Hadley  hill  a  fine  new  meeting-house,  modern 
in  style  as  became  the  temple  in  which  a  progressive 
people  worshiped  the  Lord.  The  little  old  first  edifice 
was  falling  in  pieces  when,  in  1713,  another  important 
town-meeting  was  held,  over  which  Samuel  Porter 
presided  as  moderator.  Here  the  people  voted  "That 
we  will  build  a  new  Metting  Hous"  and  "That  the 
Meting  house  that  we  have  agreed  to  build  shall  be 
40  foot  in  length  and  40  foot  in  breadth,  with  a  flattish 
roof  and  a  Bellcony  on  one  end  of  said  house."  The 
committee,  Samuel  Porter,  "Left."  Nehemiah  Dickin- 
son, "Sargt."  Daniel  Marsh,  Peter  Montague,  and 
Samuel  Barnard,  were  instructed  to  buy  glass,  nails, 
"clabbords,"  and  shingles,  and  to  hire  workmen,  "im- 
proving our  own  inhabitants  as  conveniently  as  may 
be." 

The  second  meeting-house  was  finished  in  1714, 
and  stood  for  ninety-five  years.  The  "flattish  roof" 


46  Historic  Hadley 

would  now  be  considered  steep.  The  "bellcony," 
built  up  from  the  ground,  was  the  first  steeple  in 
Hampshire  County.  The  bell  tower  was  probably  not 
at  once  completed,  the  committee  finding  it  necessary 
to  get  the  frame  raised  and  covered  and  plastered,  and 
to  set  the  "joyners"  windows  firmly  in  their  places, 
before  spending  time  and  money  on  what  was  purely 
ornamental.  The  beams  overhead  were  hidden  by 
plastering,  but  the  posts  and  braces  were  painted  and 
left  in  sight.  When  the  building  was  almost  finished 
"Captain  Aaron  Cooke,  Esq.,  Ensign  Chileab  Smith, 
Mr.  Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Marsh,  Deac. 
Nathaniel  White  and  Deac.  John  Smith"  put  their 
wise  heads  together  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  seat  the  new 
meeting-house  in  a  manner  more  acceptable  to  the 
aristocracy  than  had  been  the  arrangement  in  the  old 
one.  In  1717  more  pews  were  built,  the  gallery  and 
desk  were  painted,  "pentices"  were  placed  over  the 
doors,  and  efforts  were  made  to  keep  the  rain  from 
spoiling  the  plastering  by  beating  under  the  eaves. 
After  a  time  Eleazer  Porter,  son  of  Samuel,  the  first 
settler,  replaced  the  simple  pulpit  and  sounding-board 
with  new  ones  more  elegant  than  those  in  Northampton 
or  Hatfield,  and  also  presented  a  handsome  new  desk 
for  the  minister's  use.  The  children  gazed  with 
wonder  on  the  elaborate  wooden  canopy  which  seemed 
to  project  in  air  with  no  visible  support  above  the 
parson's  head,  and  threatened  to  come  down  with  a 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  47 

crash  when  in  tremendous  tones  the  reverend  speaker 
thundered  forth  the  terrors  of  the  law.  Their  fears 
were  not  without  reason,  for,  although  through  all  these 
theological  thunderings  the  sounding-board  remained 
firm,  yet  the  little  diamond-shaped  panes  of  glass  did 
become  loosened  from  the  leads  which  held  them  and 
were  replaced  in  a  firmer  fashion  with  "  square  glass " 
of  a  later  style.  Square  pews  built  by  individuals,  and 
considered  much  more  respectable  than  narrow  slips, 
took  the  place  of  the  old-fashioned  long  seats.  Eleazer 
Porter  owned  a  square  pew,  and  other  well-to-do 
people  built  similar  ones,  with  supports  fastened  to  the 
floor,  so  there  could  be  no  clattering,  such  as  was  heard 
in  many  churches  when  children  moved  about. 

Seating  the  meeting-house  continued  to  produce  hot 
contentions,  as  the  selectmen  were  obliged  to  regard 
"age,  estate,"  and  many  sorts  of  "qualifications." 
Heads  of  families  sat  in  their  pews  in  the  body  of  the 
house,  and  females  in  the  gallery  on  the  right,  while 
the  males  were  on  the  left.  After  1772  the  front  seats 
in  the  side  galleries  were  reserved  for  singers.  Little 
children  on  low  benches  in  the  aisles  were  ever  con- 
scious of  the  keen  old  eyes  watching  them  from  the 
gallery  where  the  tithing  man  was  on  the  lookout  for 
offenders.  At  any  appearance  of  levity,  with  a  sharp 
rap  on  the  top  of  the  seat  his  official  staff  would  be 
pointed  directly  at  the  unlucky  wight,  who,  conscious 
of  the  reproving  gaze  of  the  whole  congregation,  wished 


48  Historic  Hadley 

that  the  floor  might  open  and  swallow  him  up.  Before 
the  pulpit,  opposite  the  broad  aisle,  sat  the  deacons  in 
a  solemn  row.  On  the  top  of  the  partition  next  the 
aisle  was  balanced  the  christening  basin,  and  here  the 
minister  performed  the  rite  of  baptism,  often  on  infants 
but  twenty-four  hours  old.  A  leaf  which  hung  near  by, 
when  raised,  was  covered  with  a  white  cloth,  and  upon 
the  table  thus  made  were  placed  the  bread  and  wine 
for  the  communion  service.  Among  the  communicants 
in  an  upper  region  were  certain  chattels  with  black 
faces,  the  property  of  their  brethren  in  the  Lord. 

We  should  imagine  that  those  old  Puritan  fathers 
would  have  regarded  with  scorn  any  attempt  to  enslave 
a  \veaker  race,  as  contrary  to  those  principles  on  which 
their  very  faith  was  founded.  But  our  heroic  ancestors 
were  human  and  therefore  inconsistent.  They  always 
had  an  eye  for  business  ventures  which  promised  gain, 
and  settled  the  matter  with  their  consciences  as  best 
they  could.  For  more  than  one  hundred  years  slavery 
existed  in  the  valley  towns  and  the  masters  and  mis- 
tresses were  among  the  most  respected  of  their  citizens. 
Joshua  Boston,  chattel,  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Hadley  church,  with  dignified  carriage  and  gentlemanly 
manners,  was  an  important  member  of  the  family  of 
Eleazer  Porter.  His  ability  to  read  and  write  enabled 
him  to  become  well  posted  in  the  news  of  the  day,  so 
that,  although  a  slave,  he  was  glad  to  fight  for  the 
cause  of  liberty  in  the  Revolution.  We  may  well 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  49 

believe  that  at  his  death  his  master  felt  that  he  had 
lost  property  worth  £20,  at  which  old  Joshua  was 
valued.  Joshua's  funeral  was  attended  by  many 
friends,  who  mourned  him  for  his  worth,  irrespective 
of  the  color  of  his  skin.  During  a  period  of  six  years 
thirteen  negroes  died  in  Hadley  and  were  buried  in 
the  old  cemetery.  The  funerals  of  these  servants  were 
"improved"  by  the  ministers  as  occasions  upon  which 
it  was  proper  to  defend  the  institution  of  slavery  and 
endeavor  to  reconcile  the  slave  to  his  bonds.  Whipping 
was  the  customary  punishment  for  common  offenses, 
yet  in  those  days  when  stocks  and  whipping-post  and 
ducking-stool  were  in  active  operation  for  white  crimi- 
nals, this  penalty  may  not  have  been  excessive.  The 
Hadley  slaves  were  treated  much  like  children,  and 
were  not  subjected  to  more  severe  discipline  than  were 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  their  owners. 

Parson  Isaac  Chauncey  was  a  conscientious  man. 
He  preached  long  sermons  in  which  were  clearly  por- 
trayed the  principles  of  right  and  justice,  yet,  like  his 
predecessor,  he  was  a  slaveholder  and  saw  no  harm 
in  following  a  practice  which  he  believed  was  taught 
in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures.  His  helpmeet, 
Sarah,  died  when  thirty-eight  years  old,  leaving  ten 
children.  The  father  of  this  family  was  also  the 
master  of  Arthur  Prutt,  Joan,  his  wife,  and  their 
dusky  brood  of  seven,  named  respectively,  George, 
Elenor,  Ishmael,  Caesar,  Abner,  Zebulon,  and  Chloe. 


50  Historic  Hadley 

The  fact  that  Arthur  had  a  surname  indicates  that  he 
may  have  been  bought  from  another  rather  than  im- 
ported directly  from  the  African  coast.  It  must  have 
been  difficult  for  the  minister  to  fill  so  many  hungry 
mouths  on  the  pittance  paid  for  his  services,  and  a 
Southern  planter  would  have  sold  some  of  these  young 
darkies,  but  we  find  no  proof  that  this  was  ever  done. 
It  is  very  probable  that  each  of  the  parson's  daughters, 
Mrs.  John  Graham,  of  Southbury,  Conn.,  Mrs. 
Grindal  Rawson,  of  South  Hadley,  Mrs.  Daniel  Russell, 
of  Rocky  Hill,  Conn.,  and  Mrs.  Hobart  Estabrook,  of 
East  Haddam,  received  a  slave  when  she  was  married 
to  the  minister  of  her  choice,  and  thus  the  negro 
family  was  kept  within  bounds.  George,  the  son  of 
Arthur  Prutt,  died  in  Whately.  The  parson's  son, 
Richard  Chauncey,  brought  a  slave  to  the  East  Pre- 
cinct, afterwards  Amherst,  and  Josiah  Chauncey,  a 
prominent  resident  of  the  same  town,  was  the  master 
of  Caesar  Prutt. 

The  Chauncey  brothers  were  violent  Tories,  and 
Caesar,  the  slave,  not  sympathizing  with  their  senti- 
ments, must  have  run  away,  for  when  Captain  Reuben 
Dickinson  raised  his  famous  company  at  the  time  of 
the  Lexington  alarm,  the  bondman  Caesar  stood  side 
by  side  with  other  Amherst  residents,  and  did  his 
duty  with  the  rest.  The  patriotic  slave  of  a  Tory 
master,  knowing  the  bitterness  of  servitude,  was  eager 
to  fight  for  freedom.  Years  passed.  Josiah  Chauncey 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  51 

and  his  wife  left  Amherst,  and  died  in  Schenectady, 
New  York.  The  Revolutionary  veterans  were  awarded 
pensions,  but  nothing  is  heard  of  Csesar  Prutt.  At 
last,  when  in  April,  1801,  Amherst  held  its  annual 
town-meeting  in  the  old  church  on  the  hill,  the  clerk 
recorded  the  following:  "Voted,  that  Csesar  Prutt,  a 
Town  Pauper,  be  Set  up  at  Vendue  to  the  lowest 
bidder  for  Vitualling  and  Beding,  and  was  Struck  off 
to  Asa  Smith  for  one  year  for  One  Dollar  Per  week." 
Alas  for  Csesar!  We  can  imagine  the  decrepit  old 
Revolutionary  hero,  with  black  face  and  snowy  wool 
and  trembling,  knotted  hands,  standing  before  his 
fellow  townsmen,  as  they  auction  him  off  for  one 
dollar  per  week.  Asa  Smith,  tired  of  his  undertaking, 
passed  his  charge  along  to  Samuel  Hastings,  and  thus 
the  sorry  tale  goes  on.  Each  year,  more  feeble  and 
infirm,  old  Caesar  is  brought  to  the  town-meeting  and 
sold  to  the  lowest  bidder.  Suddenly,  in  1806,  the 
record  ends,  and  probably  the  life  went  out  as  a  candle 
is  extinguished,  leaving  but  little  trace  behind.  In 
some  unknown  corner  of  West  Cemetery  in  Amherst 
the  wornout  body  was  laid  away,  and  his  very  name 
was  forgotten. 

The  name  of  Zebulon,  the  youngest  son  of  Arthur 
Prutt,  will  forever  be  connected  with  the  history  of 
the  ancient  bird  that  perches  on  the  Hadley  meeting- 
house steeple.  When  the  belfry,  rising  almost  one 
hundred  feet  in  air,  with  pillars  and  fretwork,  was  com- 


52  Historic  Hadley 

plete,  the  weather-cock,  which  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  has  creaked  round  and  round 
above  the  broad  street,  was  placed  in  its  lofty  position. 
This  glittering  fowl,  brought  over  from  England,  and 
almost  as  large  as  a  sheep,  was  so  attractive  to  the 
young  darky,  Zeb  Prutt,  that  he  climbed  the  spire 
and  sitting  on  the  rooster's  back  crowed  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  biped  he  bestrode.  The  gay  and  frisky 
Zeb,  who  seemed  to  be  not  cast  down  by  the  fact  of 
his  servitude,  afterward  became  the  property  of  Oliver 
Warner  of  Amherst. 

During  the  pastorate  of  Parson  Chauncey  the  people 
of  Hadley  discovered  that  the  great  useless  mountain 
in  their  midst  might  be  of  some  practical  value.  There- 
fore the  town  voted  to  fence  in  the  north  side  of  "  Mount 
holioke"  for  a  cow  and  sheep  pasture.  One  tenth  of 
the  old  township  of  Hadley  was,  in  their  opinion, 
wasted  in  this  mountain,  which  was  simply  an  obstacle 
in  their  way.  The  Indians  had  taken  refuge  in  its 
thickets,  cattle  had  fallen  over  its  precipices,  and 
altogether  it  was  an  undesirable  possession,  separating 
the  citizens  from  their  children  who  had  persisted  in 
leaving  the  old  home  for  the  untried  lands  beyond. 
In  1727  twenty-one  of  the  southern  settlers,  because 
they  were  "8  miles  from  the  place  of  public  worship 
and  the  way  was  mountainous  and  bad,"  petitioned  to 
be  made  into  a  precinct,  now  South  Hadley.  Thus 
the  Hadley  church  gained  a  second  daughter,  but 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  53 

lost  some  valuable  supporters.  Very  soon  the  "East 
Inhabitants  beyond  the  Pine  Plain"  demanded  that 
they  also  should  be  "set  off,"  and  soon  the  East 
Precinct,  afterwards  Amherst,  in  its  own  meeting- 
house was  listening  to  long  sermons  by  the  Rev. 
David  Parsons. 

Parson  Chauncey,  although  concealing  no  regi- 
cides within  his  home,  had  still  an  ever  present 
grief  in  the  misfortune  which  had  befallen  his  dearly 
beloved  eldest  son  Israel.  This  brilliant  young  theo- 
logue,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  the  class  of  1724,  after 
teaching  in  the  academy  at  Hadley,  and  preaching  in 
Northampton  and  Housatonic,  was  sought  by  the 
church  in  Norwalk,  Conn.,  for  its  vacant  pulpit. 
Suddenly  his  career  was  cut  short  by  an  attack  of 
violent  dementia,  brought  on  by  excessive  study.  With 
no  asylum  for  a  refuge,  the  "distracted  young  man" 
was  confined  in  a  small  outhouse  in  his  father's  yard, 
and  his  midnight  shriekings  of  "  fire  "  passed  unnoticed 
as  the  ravings  of  a  maniac.  Alas,  there  came  a  night 
when  the  alarm  was  all  too  true,  and  the  poor  lunatic 
cried  in  vain  until  his  room  was  wrapped  in  flames 
which  were  discovered  too  late  to  save  his  life. 

Before  the  death  of  his  son  the  Hadley  minister  had 
been  in  great  demand  for  services  outside  the  town. 
In  Sunderland,  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  William 
Rand,  and  at  the  funeral  of  Rev.  John  Williams  of 
Deerfield,  he  spoke  acceptable  words  of  counsel  and 


54  Historic  Hadley 

sympathy,  and  when  the  Rev.  Robert  Breck  of  Spring- 
field, pronounced  to  be  a  heretic  by  one  company  of 
Hampshire  County  ministers,  was  finally  admitted  by 
a  second  and  more  liberal  council,  Mr.  Chauncey 
preached  the  ordination  sermon  and  gave  the  charge. 
The  tragedy  in  his  home  brought  on  physical  ailments 
which  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  have  assistance  in 
the  pulpit,  and  he  preached  but  little  after  1738, 
although  he  lived  until  1745.  October  16,  1740,  George 
Whitefield,  the  English  evangelist,  who  by  the  sober 
citizens  of  Hatfield  wras  refused  admission  to  their 
pulpit,  preached  in  the  Hadley  meeting-house  and, 
waxing  fervent  in  his  speech,  thundered  so  loud  that 
his  voice  was  heard  across  the  river. 

II.     The  Pastorates  of  Rev.  Chester  Williams  and 
Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins 

Rev.  Chester  Williams  was  ordained  pastor  in  Had- 
ley, January  21,  1741,  and  when  good  Parson  Chauncey 
passed  peacefully  to  his  reward,  his  brisk  young  col- 
league, already  in  the  harness,  took  full  charge  of 
pulpit  and  parish.  This  new  minister,  the  son  of 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Williams  of  Pomfret,  Conn.,  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1735,  and  soon  after  his  settlement 
married  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Eleazer  Porter, 
a  wealthy  and  influential  citizen  of  Hadley.  The 
village,  no  longer  a  fortified  town,  was  now  a  thriving 
rural  hamlet.  The  twenty-one  highways,  laid  out  in 


The  Church  in  Old  Haclley  55 

1722  by  Samuel  and  Experience  Porter  and  Lieutenant 
John  Smith,  had  been  improved  and  widened,  and 
cleared  from  stones  and  stumps.  Joseph  Kellogg,  a 
son  of  Lieutenant  Joseph,  kept  the  ferry  at  the  Aqua 
Vitse  Meadow.  Westwood  and  Noah  Cooke,  Ichabod 
Smith,  Joseph  Hubbard,  Samuel  Dickinson,  James 
Goodman,  Ezekiel  Kellogg,  and  Benjamin  Church, 
all  grandsons  of  the  first  settlers,  dwelt  either  in  the 
old  homesteads  or  had  built  houses  for  themselves  on 
the  broad  street.  The  Marsh  family  was  represented 
by  the  aged  brothers,  Ebenezer  and  Job,  grandsons  of 
John,  the  pioneer,  and  their  descendants.  Captain 
Job  Marsh  had  built  in  1715  a  house  on  land  given  by 
the  town  to  his  father,  Daniel,  which  is  the  site  of  the 
present  meeting-house  and  town  hall.  Valiant  Cap- 
tain Moses  Marsh,  his  son,  fought  in  the  Louisburg 
campaign,  and  after  the  war  settled  in  his  native  town 
and  became  a  most  useful  and  public-spirited  citizen. 
Moses  Cooke,  the  son  of  Aaron,  and  possibly  others 
of  his  generation,  were  in  1745  still  living,  and  could 
relate  stirring  tales  of  their  youthful  days  when  Hadley 
was  besieged  like  a  citadel  of  old.  For  the  most  part 
the  town  was  a  settlement  of  farmers,  and  fighting  was 
a  well-nigh  forgotten  art.  Lieutenant  Noah  Cooke 
was  making  rope  from  hemp  raised  on  his  land,  and 
Oliver  Warner,  the  hatter,  was  supplying  his  neighbors 
with  headgear  of  the  latest  style.  Some  articles  of 
luxury  had  been  introduced,  and  the  aristocrats  were 


56  Historic  Hadley 

carrying  gold  and  silver  watches,  and  warming  their 
feet  by  means  of  wooden  stoves  lined  with  tin  made 
by  Eliakim  Smith  and  Samuel  Gaylord.  Moses 
Porter  had  imported  a  "chair"  in  which  he  drove 
about,  and  Parson  Williams,  dressed  in  the  height  of 
fashion,  was  a  conspicuous  figure  as,  mounted  on  the 
most  valuable  saddle  horse  in  the  county,  he  rode  up 
and  down  the  street  making  his  pastoral  calls.  His 
wardrobe  included  one  cloak,  one  gown,  two  great- 
coats, six  coats,  six  waistcoats,  five  pairs  of  breeches, 
seven  shirts,  six  neckcloths,  three  cotton  handkerchiefs, 
three  bands,  five  stocks,  seventeen  pairs  of  stockings, 
and  smaller  articles  too  many  to  enumerate.  Silver 
shoe,  knee,  and  stock  buckles,  gold  sleeve  buttons  and 
rings,  a  silver  tankard  and  snuffbox,  were  also  num- 
bered among  his  possessions.  When  we  realize  that 
nine  years  of  married  life  brought  to  his  home  six 
children  we  do  not  wonder  that  Phillis,  a  negro  slave, 
was  needed  in  the  parson's  kitchen. 

At  this  time  Jonathan  Edwards  was  preaching  in 
Northampton  and  all  the  churches  were  involved  in 
the  controversy  regarding  the  necessary  qualifications 
for  communion.  A  majority  of  the  ministers  in  the 
county  disagreed  with  Mr.  Edwards'  teaching  that  the 
Lord's  supper  was  not  a  converting  ordinance.  Rev. 
Chester  Williams,  the  Hadley  minister,  was  the  scribe 
of  that  memorable  council,  by  which  the  greatest 
preacher  of  New  England  was  sent  away  in  disgrace, 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  57 

and  Parson  Williams,  together  with  Enos  Nash,  the 
Hadley  delegate,  voted  for  his  dismission.  Three 
years  after  this  occurred  Mr.  Williams  was  seized  with 
a  sudden  and  fatal  illness,  and  again  the  Hadley 
church  was  without  a  pastor. 

Some  mysterious  attraction  about  this  time  drew 
the  attention  of  a  young  Yale  graduate  toward  Hadley. 
He  was  the  nephew  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  no 
doubt  had  often  in  his  visits  to  the  broad  street  crossed 
the  river  and  viewed  the  pleasant  meadows  near  at 
hand.  But  something  beside  scenery  must  have  caused 
him  to  become  a  "probationer"  in  the  Hadley  pulpit. 
After  preaching  for  six  Sabbaths  he  accepted  the 
church's  loud  and  urgent  call  to  settle  in  the  parish. 
A  special  fast-day  was  appointed  to  prepare  for  the 
ordination,  and  then,  February  26,  1755,  the  ceremony 
took  place  and  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  became  the  fourth 
minister  of  Hadley.  His  father,  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins 
of  West  Springfield,  preached  the  sermon,  and  Rev. 
Stephen  Williams  of  Longmeadow  gave  the  charge. 
From  church  to  parsonage  was  only  a  short  journey, 
and  it  seemed  supremely  fitting  that  the  new  minister 
in  caring  for  his  flock  should  pay  especial  attention  to 
the  family  of  his  predecessor.  The  sudden  attraction 
for  Hadley  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that,  as  soon 
as  decorum  would  allow,  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  married 
Mrs.  Sarah  Williams,  widow  of  the  late  pastor,  and 
thus  at  twenty-six  became  the  step-father  of  six  small 


58  Historic  Hadley 

children,  the  possessor  of  many  changes  of  raiment, 
the  owner  of  a  handsome  library,  and  the  master  of  a 
comfortable  and  well  appointed  home. 

According  to  the  diary  kept  by  Madam  Porter,  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  Hopkins,  this  year,  November  18,  1755, 
"  an  awful  earthquake "  shook  the  ground  beneath 
their  feet  and  alarmed  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 
county,  to  whom  such  a  phenomenon  presaged  dis- 
aster. But  no  immediate  effects  were  felt,  for  although 
other  Hampshire  towns  had  suffered  from  Indian 
depredations,  yet,  since  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Hadley 
had  been  unmolested.  Encouraged  by  continued  peace, 
the  people  had  ventured  to  settle  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  town.  Two  miles  to  the  north,  in  a  sheltered 
intervale  known  as  Forty  Acre  Meadow,  Moses  Porter, 
great-grandson  of  Samuel,  the  first  settler,  had  built  in 
1752  a  commodious  dwelling,  and  installed  therein  his 
bride,  Mistress  Elizabeth  Pitkin,  granddaughter  of 
Phebe,  the  third  wife  of  Parson  Russell.  Hardly  had 
the  master  of  this  home  welcomed  the  new  minister 
within  its  hospitable  portals,  when  military  duty  called 
Captain  Porter  to  take  command  of  his  company  and 
march  to  Albany,  there  to  join  the  regiment  of  Colonel 
Williams  in  its  ill-fated  expedition  against  Crown 
Point  on  Lake  Champlain.  Enos  Smith,  a  small 
Hadley  lad,  noted  with  wondering  eyes  the  gorgeous 
uniform  of  the  sad-faced  soldier,  who,  obeying  duty's 
call,  left  his  heart  behind  with  his  unprotected  wife 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  59 

and  little  daughter  Elizabeth  in  the  pleasant  home 
which  he  was  to  see  no  more.  Far  away  from  all 
neighbors,  Mistress  Porter  looked  well  after  her  house- 
hold, and  kept  a  brave  heart  through  the  long  and 
lonely  summer.  At  last  the  swift  express  from  the 
north  reached  Hadley,  and  her  dread  was  turned  to 
certain  knowledge  when  she  learned  that  six  days 
before,  September  8,  her  brave  husband  had  fallen 
in  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  and  that  his  body, 
stripped  of  its  martial  trappings,  had  been  left  to  the 
mercy  of  his  foes,  only  his  sword  being  secured  for  his 
family.  All  Hadley  mourned  for  the  intrepid  captain 
and  sympathized  with  his  widow,  left  alone  to  care  for 
her  young  daughter  and  to  manage  her  large  estate. 

But  trials  had  to  be  endured  in  those  old  days, 
and  Hadley  women  were  too  busy  to  indulge  in  nervous 
prostration.  Madam  Porter  with  sorrowful  face  went 
about  her  daily  tasks,  and  for  forty  years  was  faithful 
to  her  husband's  memory.  Her  little  Elizabeth,  May 
13,  1770,  was  "published"  to  Mr.  Charles  Phelps,  a 
young  Northampton  lawyer,  and  June  14  the  wedding 
took  place.  Her  son-in-law  relieved  Madam  Porter  of 
her  many  cares,  built  the  gambrel  roof  above  the  old 
house  as  we  see  it  to-day,  and  added  to  the  farm  until 
it  included  six  hundred  acres.  His  daughter,  the  third 
Elizabeth,  married  Rev.  Dan  Huntington,  and  his 
grandson,  Frederic  Dan,  was  the  late  beloved  Bishop 
of  Central  New  York.  Madam  Porter  lived  to  be 


60  Historic  Had  ley 

seventy-eight  years  old.  Her  body  was  carried  from 
her  old  home  to  the  riverside,  placed  in  a  boat,  taken 
down  the  stream,  and  buried  in  the  cemetery  beside 
the  headstone  which  stands  as  a  memorial  to  her 
husband,  Captain  Moses  Porter,  a  hero  of  Old  Hadley. 

Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  the  minister  in  Hadley  during 
all  the  years  of  Madam  Porter's  widowhood,  stands 
out  from  history's  page  a  unique  and  interesting  per- 
sonality, quite  different  from  the  typical  New  England 
parson  of  the  olden  time.  We  see  him  in  his  home, 
expending  his  salary  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-two 
dollars  so  prudently  that  his  nine  children  and  six 
step-children  were  fed  and  clothed,  strangers  were 
entertained,  and  a  little  was  laid  by  for  time  of  need. 
We  follow  him  as,  attired  in  long-tailed  coat,  knee 
breeches,  a  vest  with  skirts,  and  buckled  shoes,  he 
calls  from  house  to  house,  and  seated  in  the  chimney 
corner  puffs  upon  the  pipe  kept  for  his  use,  and  makes 
himself  at  home.  But  the  listener,  waiting  to  hear 
the  good  divine  expound  the  doctrine  and  the  law,  is 
sometimes  disappointed  when  unseemly  levity  takes 
the  place  of  improving  conversation,  for  the  worthy 
parson  dearly  loves  a  joke,  even  when  the  laugh  is 
turned  upon  himself. 

One  Sabbath,  when  dining  with  Governor  Strong, 
he  declined  some  pudding  between  services,  saying 
that  pudding  before  preaching  made  him  dull,  at  which 
the  Governor  slyly  queried,  "  Did  you  not  eat  pudding 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  61 

for  breakfast?"  Parson  Hopkins  asked  an  invalid  if 
she  would  not  like  to  have  him  "  preach  a  lecture "  by 
her  bedside,  and  received  the  reply  that  she  would 
indeed,  as  she  had  slept  but  poorly  the  night  before, 
and  his  discourses  were  always  soothing.  Complaining 
that  a  certain  man  brought  him  "soft  wood,"  he  was 
told  that  he  did  so  because  the  people  were  given 
"  soft  preaching." 

But  though  a  joker  for  six  days  in  the  week,  on 
Sunday  Parson  Hopkins  was  dignified  in  manner  and 
of  slow  delivery,  with  so  much  of  judicial  argument 
and  wisdom  in  his  utterance  that  an  eminent  lawyer 
remarked  that  he  would  make  a  good  judge.     He  often 
adapted  his  sermons  to  the  discussion  of  special  events.   - 
The  "awful  earthquake"  called  forth  two  discourses, 
and  a  cheerful  New  Year's  sermon,  January  1,  1764, 
declared,  "This  year  thou  shalt  die."     His  five  sons- 
in-law,  Rev.  Samuel  Spring,  Rev.  Samuel  Austin,  Rev.   v 
William  Riddel,  Rev.  Leonard  Worcester,  and  Rev.  f 
Nathaniel  Emmons,  often  visited  Hadley,  and  preached 
in  the  old  church,  and  sometimes  the  Hadley  pastor 
exchanged   with   Mr.    Hooker  of  Northampton,   and 
with  Mr.  Parsons  of  Amherst. 

When  the  parson,  his  wife,  her  aged  mother,  and 
twelve  children  were  crowded  beneath  the  ministerial 
roof-tree,  a  sudden  misfortune  befell  the  household. 
The  winds,  howling  over  the  western  hills  and  sweeping 
across  the  Hadley  meadows,  blew  a  tiny  flicker  into 


62  Historic  Hadley 

flame,  and  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  March  21, 
1766,  a  blaze  shot  into  air  which  illuminated  the  country 
for  miles  around.  Regardless  of  sermons  or  silver, 
the  parson  hustled  his  children  half  naked  through  the 
windows,  and  rushing  after  them  with  his  little  two- 
weeks-old  Polly  hugged  close  to  his  breast,  assured 
himself  that  all  were  safe,  and  then  exclaimed  to  the 
raging  flames,  "Now  burn  and  welcome!"  Fortu- 
nately Madam  Porter  saved  her  almanac,  and  in  it 
recorded  these  facts  for  our  information.  She  also 
tells  us  that  in  eleven  days  a  new  frame  was  raised, 
and  that  on  November  24  the  family  moved  into  the 
rebuilt  dwelling. 

The  years  of  Dr.  Hopkins'  ministry  were  crowded 
with  events  upon  which  hung  the  fate  of  the  nation. 
The  Hadley  farmers  were  all  ready  for  revolution,  for 
they  had  been  greatly  exasperated  by  the  King's  sur- 
veyors who  confiscated  all  trees  twenty-four  inches  in 
diameter  a  foot  above  the  ground,  to  be  made  into 
masts  for  the  British  navy.  In  1765  Josiah  Pierce 
recorded  in  his  almanac,  "  A  mob  in  Hadley  on  account 
of  logs."  The  perpetual  wrangling  over  seating  the 
meeting-house  was  hushed  by  the  call  of  the  minute 
men  to  arms.  Giles  Crouch  Kellogg,  Phineas  Lyman, 
Oliver  Smith,  Josiah  Pierce,  and  Jonathan  Warner 
were  appointed  a  committee  of  correspondence,  and 
later  Ebenezer  and  Moses  Marsh,  John  Cowls,  Ben- 
jamin Colt,  Eliakim  Smith,  Edmund  Hubbard,  War- 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  63 

ham  Smith,  and  Noah  Cooke  were  added  to  this 
committee.  In  1774  Josiah  Pierce  was  sent  as  Hadley's 
delegate  to  the  first  Provincial  Congress.  A  powder 
house  eight  feet  square  was  built  in  the  middle  lane 
and  in  it  was  stored  four  and  a  half  barrels  of  powder. 
Noah  Smith  and  Warham  Smith  were  sent  to  Williams- 
town  to  get  the  "great  gun  that  used  to  belong  to  the 
town."  On  April  29,  1775,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached 
Hadley,  and  at  one  o'clock  fifty  volunteers  started 
toward  Boston.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  make 
saltpetre,  and  Moses  Marsh  "took  the  saltpetre  oath." 

Hon.  Samuel  Porter,  son  of  Samuel  the  first  settler, 
and  a  very  wealthy  man,  died  in  1722  leaving  an  estate 
of  ten  thousand  dollars.  His  grandson,  Hon.  Eleazer 
Porter,  justice  of  the  peace  and  judge  of  probate,  and 
Elisha  Porter,  sheriff  of  Hampshire  County,  lived 
during  the  Revolution  in  handsome  houses  side  by 
side,  built  probably  by  their  grandfather  on  land 
granted  to  their  great-grandfather  by  the  town.  They 
were  the  sons  of  Eleazer,  who  married  Sarah  Pitkin 
and  died  when  fifty-nine  years  old. 

The  Hon.  Eleazer  Porter  married  for  his  second 
wife,  Susanna,  daughter  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards. 
Her  word,  handed  down  through  her  descendants, 
proves  the  house  in  which  she  lived  to  have  been 
built  in  1713,  and  therefore  that  it  is  the  oldest  house 
in  town.  The  visitor  to-day  gazes  with  interest  on 


64  Historic  Hadley 

the  quaint  exterior  with  projecting  second  story,  ex- 
amines the  handsome  scroll  over  the  double  front  door, 
and  then  walks  into  the  narrow  hall  and  up  the  winding 
stairs,  where  low  but  sunny  chambers  open  out  on 
either  hand,  and  a  steep  staircase  leads  to  a  dark  and 
dismal  attic.  There  we  see  hewn  timbers,  some  of 
which  were  taken  from  the  old  house  built  by  Samuel 
Porter,  the  first  settler,  and  thus  a  portion  of  this 
ancient  mansion  dates  back  to  those  old  days  when 
the  town  was  born.  Below,  at  the  right  of  the  narrow 
hall,  and  lighted  by  three  windows,  with  deep  window 
seats,  and  paneled  woodwork,  and  fireplace  six  feet 
wide,  and  handsome  corner  cupboard,  is  the  room 
formerly  used  as  a  court  room.  Across  the  hall  is 
another  apartment  of  the  same  size,  and  in  each 
ceiling  massive  roof-trees  a  foot  square  give  ample 
support  to  the  floor  above.  After  the  Hon.  Eleazer 
Porter  died,  this  house  was  the  home  of  his  son, 
Jonathan  Edwards  Porter,  and  others  of  his  race  and 
name  have  followed  until  in  later  years  it  passed  out 
of  the  family. 

Colonel  Elisha  Porter,  the  proprietor  of  the  other 
Porter  house,  which  was  built  one  year  later,  received 
orders  January,  1770,  to  proceed  with  his  regiment  to 
Quebec.  Such  a  journey  in  the  depth  of  winter  re- 
quired much  courage,  but  was  accomplished  safely, 
and  the  Colonel  returned  in  time  to  witness  the  sur- 
render of  Burgoyne  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  and  to 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadlcy  65 

make  the  acquaintance  of  that  hapless  officer  and 
gentleman.  Colonel  Porter  then  found  it  necessary  to 
come  home  to  attend  to  his  duties  as  high  sheriff. 
Soon  there  was  business  at  Joseph  Kellogg's  ferry, 
where  a  straggling  army  of  Hessian  mercenaries,  pris- 
oners of  war,  waited  to  be  set  over  the  river.  Hungry 
and  weary,  the  rank  and  file  of  Burgoyne's  army  were 
thankful  to  rest  beside  the  stream,  and  Colonel  Porter, 
moved  by  sympathy  for  the  defeated  general,  well-nigh 
helpless  with  illness,  extended  to  him  the  hospitality  of 
his  own  home,  and  allowed  his  bodyguard  to  encamp 
within  the  dooryard.  The  round  eyes  of  the  six 
Porter  children  stared  with  astonishment  at  the  gay 
uniforms  and  gorgeous  trappings  brought  so  sud- 
denly to  their  very  door,  and  Puritanical  ears  were 
horrified  at  the  careless  speech  of  those  disgusted 
British  soldiers. 

The  English  general  found  the  quiet  Hadley  home  a 
very  haven  of  rest,  and  his  natural  foes  converted  into 
kindly  hosts,  by  whose  ministrations  his  strength  was 
restored,  and  he  was  able  to  resume  his  journey.  In 
taking  leave,  Burgoyne  presented  to  Colonel  Porter  the 
dress  sword  which  he  had  surrendered  and  received 
again  at  Saratoga.  This  invaluable  relic  was  left  by 
its  owner  to  his  son  Samuel  and  from  him  descended 
to  his  daughter  Pamela,  who  married  Dudley  Smith. 
Their  son  Samuel  Smith,  and  daughter,  Miss  Lucy 
Smith,  now  own  the  sword  of  Burgoyne,  a  three-edged 


66  Historic  Hadley 

rapier,  with  embossed  silver  handle  and  filigrecd  guard. 
The  visitor  examining  the  sword  is  interested  to  de- 
cipher on  the  blade  near  the  handle  the  monogram 
G.  R.,  while  on  the  other  side  appears  the  coat  of  arms 
with  the  motto,  "Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense."  The 
owners  of  the  sword  live  in  a  house  built  on  the  site  of 
the  old  dwelling,  which  was  moved  to  the  rear,  where 
a  part  of  it  is  still  standing. 

This  passing  of  Burgoyne  through  Hadley  was  the 
only  occasion  during  the  war  when  the  British  were  in 
the  Connecticut  Valley.  Hadley  soldiers  were  always 
in  the  field,  and  during  their  absence  the  town  cared 
for  their  families.  Large  bounties  were  offered  to 
volunteers,  and  horses,  blankets,  and  clothing  were, 
through  many  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  citizens, 
provided  for  their  use.  It  was  even  necessary  to  "  sell 
the  Great  Gun  at  vendue"  to  raise  money  to  help 
carry  on  the  war.  No  complete  list  has  been  preserved 
of  those  who  represented  Hadley  in  the  Revolution, 
but  we  know  that  Captain  Oliver  Smith,  Captain 
Moses  Marsh,  Nehemiah  Gaylord,  and  his  son  Nelje- 
miah,  Josiah  Nash,  Daniel  Bartlett,  Ebenezer  Pome- 
roy,  Jr.,  Seymour  Kelsey,  Francis  Traynor,  Ichabod 
Nye,  Medad  Noble,  and  Timothy  Smith  were  in  active 
service.  In  the  midst  of  the  war  Hadley  was  threatened 
with  an  epidemic  of  smallpox  brought  by  soldiers  re- 
turning from  the  northern  campaign.  Much  preju- 
dice was  felt  by  the  ignorant  against  inoculation, 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  67 

but  finally  it  was  decided  that  it  was  a  necessary 
measure,  and  one  Sunday  morning  fifteen  patients 
submitted  to  the  operation  in  the  home  of  Moses 
Marsh,  to  the  great  scandal  of  many  who  felt  that  by 
so  doing  the  Sabbath  was  needlessly  broken. 

The  meeting-house  had  been  reshingled,  the  bell 
recast  and  made  heavier,  and  general  repairs  com- 
pleted, when  peaceful  Hadley  was  invaded  by  another 
army,  pursuing  Daniel  Shays  and  his  adherents  of 
rebellion  fame.  The  snow  was  piled  in  drifts,  and  the 
roads  almost  impassable,  when  General  Lincoln  and 
his  three  thousand  soldiers  made  their  camp  one 
memorable  Sunday  morning,  January  13,  1787,  on  the 
broad  street.  Cannon  were  stationed  north  of  the 
meeting-house,  and  preparations  were  made  by  which 
to  keep  the  Sabbath  after  the  good  old  fashion.  Dr. 
Hopkins  being  in  feeble  health,  a  messenger  was  sent 
to  Hatfield  for  Dr.  Lyman,  and  there  behind  a  pulpit  \ 
built  of  snow,  with  the  three  thousand  soldiers  as  his 
congregation,  the  eloquent  divine  exhorted,  preached, 
and  prayed.  The  shades  of  the  regicides  who  lived 
and  died  in  Parson  Russell's  house  across  the  way 
may  well  have  graced  with  their  unseen  presence  this 
unique  Sunday  service. 

And  now,  with  all  rebellions  quelled,  the  time  for  a 
new  meeting-house  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  Lieutenant 
Enos  Smith,  General  Samuel  Porter,  Charles  Phelps, 
Nathaniel  White,  Captain  Daniel  White,  Captain  Elisha 


68  Historic  Hadley 

Dickinson,  Lieutenant  Caleb  Smith,  Israel  Lyman, 
Josiah  Nash,  Major  Moses  Porter,  Lemuel  Warren, 
Windsor  Smith,  and  Percy  Smith  were  chosen  a  gen- 
eral committee.  Plans  were  selected,  and  November  3, 
1806,  it  was  voted  that  a  meeting-house  should  be 
built  near  the  site  of  the  old  one  at  the  cost  of  seven 
thousand  dollars,  the  money  to  be  raised  by  selling 
pews,  and  by  a  rate  upon  the  town.  November  17  a 
majority  of  three  decided  to  build  the  meeting-house 
on  the  Back  Street.  The  vote  Avas  then  reconsidered 
and  referred  to  an  "indifferent  committee."  Charles 
Phelps,  Samuel  Porter,  Caleb  Smith,  and  Captain 
Elisha  Dickinson  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  finances 
of  the  undertaking. 

One  thing  the  people  had  determined,  and  that  was 
that  there  should  be  no  room  under  the  new  meeting- 
house for  geese,  or  sheep,  or  mischievous  boys.  The 
Hadley  geese  had  multiplied  until  almost  every  family 
owned  a  flock,  and  these  ran  the  streets,  huddling  at 
night  in  front  of  their  owners'  houses,  and  on  sunny 
days  cro\vding  under  the  meeting-house  and  making 
such  a  racket  that  the  effect  of  the  most  eloquent 
preaching  was  entirely  destroyed.  The  building  com- 
mittee, Charles  Phelps,  Lieutenant  Caleb  Smith,  and 
General  Samuel  Porter,  was  doubtless  instructed  as  to 
this  point  and  obeyed  orders. 

The  final  vote  that  the  meeting-house  should  stand 
near  the  old  one,  and  that  it  should  be  placed  east  and 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  69 

west,  with  the  steeple  at  the  east,  prevailed,  and  the 
committee  proceeded  with  its  task.  Two  years  later, 
in  1808,  the  edifice  standing  to-day  was  completed, 
and  on  its  spire  was  mounted  the  historic  weather-cock, 
now  freshened  and  made  smart  by  a  new  coat  of 
gilding.  The  old  building  was  sold  and  moved  away, 
and  November  8,  1808,  the  new  meeting-house  was 
dedicated.  A  new  bell  was  bought  at  the  cost  of  two 
hundred  dollars.  The  pews  were  sold,  parts  of  the 
north  gallery  being  reserved  by  the  town  for  the  use 
of  males,  and  parts  of  the  south  for  females.  "  Black 
males"  were  allowed  to  sit  in  the  "north  arched  pew" 
and  "Black  females"  in  the  "south  arched  pew."  No 
hats  were  to  be  hung  in  the  building,  and  stringent 
rules  for  behavior  were  made  and  posted  by  the  select- 
men. The  cost  of  the  meeting-house  was  $8,413  and 
the  sale  of  seventy-eight  pews  brought  in  $7,031. 
Colonel  Elijah  Dickinson,  Major  Moses  Porter,  and 
Captain  John  Hopkins  were  appointed  to  borrow  on 
the  credit  of  the  town  enough  money  to  complete  the 
payment  for  the  building. 

III.    Rev.  John  Woodbridge  and  His  Successors 

Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  now  aged  and  infirm,  was  no 
longer  able  to  write  and  deliver  those  long  and  learned 
sermons,  so  the  committee  requested  him  to  relinquish 
a  part  of  his  salary,  and  in  1810  engaged  Rev.  John 
Woodbridge  for  $500  a  year  as  long  as  Dr.  Hopkins 


70  Historic  Hadlcy 

lived,  together  with  fifteen  cords  of  wood  while  he 
remained  single,  and  thirty  cords  after  he  should 
marry.  But  the  venerable  pastor's  work  was  almost 
done,  and  soon  a  great  company  from  all  the  country 
round  assembled  in  the  meeting-house  to  pay  the  last 
tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory.  Dr.  Joseph  Lyman 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  his  people  escorted 
his  body  to  the  grave.  Four  ministers,  Lyman  of 
Hatfield,  Wells  of  Whately,  Williams  of  Northampton, 
and  Parsons  of  Amherst,  with  Governor  Strong  and 
Deacon  Ebenezer  Hunt  of  Northampton,  acted  as 
pallbearers.  Thus  they  buried  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins, 
minister  in  Hadley  for  fifty-seven  years. 

President  Timothy  Dwight  of  New  Haven  inspected 
the  new  meeting-house  soon  after  its  completion,  and 
described  it  as  a  "  handsome  structure,  superior  to  any 
other  in  this  country."  There  in  the  middle  of  the 
broad  street,  on  the  historic  site  occupied  by  its  pre- 
decessor, this  stately  building  stood  during  the  years 
following,  while  imperceptibly  the  center  of  population 
moved  toward  the  east.  The  west  street  people  did 
not  care  to  go  so  far  to  church,  and  so  as  in  olden  time 
"dissensions  arose"  which  in  1840  culminated  in  re- 
moving the  meeting-house  bodily  and  placing  it  in  its 
present  location.  The  solid  structure,  evidently  built 
after  a  more  substantial  fashion  than  its  prede- 
cessor, showed  no  signs  of  spreading  when  raised 
from  its  foundations,  but  traveled  along  in  a  dignified 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  71 

fashion,   and  when  it  reached  its  destination  settled 
itself  to  stay. 

But  though  the  meeting-house  stood  firm,  many 
representatives  of  the  old  settlers  were  in  a  state  of 
turmoil  and  excitement,  and  felt  that  they  could  not 
worship  God  in  the  new  location.  The  shades  of 
Parson  Russell  and  his  old-time  congregation  cried  out 
in  very  protest,  and  would  not  be  appeased.  April  1, 
1841,  Jacob  Smith  and  ninety  others  asked  to  be 
dismissed  that  they  might  form  another  church.  Then 
came  a  time  of  councils  and  discussions  and  disagree- 
ments and  disputes.  The  perplexed  ministers,  con- 
vened in  a  private  house,  suggested  that  the  seceders 
be  allowed  to  worship  by  themselves  for  a  time,  with 
the  hope  of  reconciliation.  President  Humphrey  of 
Amherst  College  went  over  to  see  what  he  could  do, 
and  advised  that  the  disgruntled  persons  be  dismissed, 
which  was  accordingly  done.  Then  with  the  help  of 
an  ex-parte  council  these  modern  "  withdrawers "  or- 
ganized, July  15,  1841,  at  2  P.  M.,  the  Russell  church 
in  Hadley,  its  members  being  eighteen  men  and  forty- 
one  women,  dismissed  by  the  First  church  as  in  good 
standing,  and  thirty-one  others  "  being  in  good  standing 
last  June."  The  Russell  meeting-house  was  erected 
on  West  Street,  and  its  pews,  built  by  individuals, 
are  to-day  the  property  of  the  descendants,  so  that  the 
building  cannot  be  sold,  though  it  has  long  been  closed 
for  church  purposes.  We  find  Mr.  \Voodbridge,  having 


72  Historic  Hadley 

left  the  First  church,  preaching  in  the  Russell  church, 
and  when  the  First  church  wanted  Rev.  Benjamin 
Martin  for  its  minister,  the  council,  of  which  Mr. 
Woodbridge  was  a  member,  refused  to  ordain  him, 
because  he  was  not  orthodox.  Another  council  was 
called,  with  Mr.  Woodbridge  omitted,  and  then  the 
candidate  was  received.  September  15,  1841,  Rev. 
Warren  H.  Beaman  was  settled  over  the  new  church 
in  North  Hadley,  the  last  child  of  the  mother  church, 
and  then  just  ten  years  old. 

Mr.  Woodbridge  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Brown, 
and  he  in  turn  by  Rev.  Francis  Danforth,  during  whose 
ministry  the  meeting-house  was  moved.  Then  came 
Rev.  Benjamin  Martin,  and  after  him  Rev.  Roland 
Ayres,  who  was  installed  in  the  old  church  January  11, 
1848,  where  he  was  the  faithful  and  efficient  pastor 
for  thirty-six  years.  In  an  anniversary  sermon  he 
states  that  in  1873  less  than  one  hundred  households 
were  represented  in  the  parish,  with  sixteen  foreign 
families  in  the  school  district.  To-day,  in  the  same 
community,  the  foreign-born  residents  and  their  chil- 
dren form  a  large  part  of  the  population.; 

Yet  still  the  old  church  holds  its  own.  Rev.  J.  S. 
Bayne  preached  in  its  pulpit  after  Dr.  Ayres,  and 
later  Rev.  E.  E.  Kcedy  was  in  charge.  Its  present 
pastor,  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Emerson,  a  graduate  of  Yale 
and  a  newcomer  to  the  valley,  recognizes  the  value  of 
its  history  and  tradition,  and  the  duty  of  perpetuating 


The  Church  in  Old  Hadley  73 

the  memory  of  its  founders.  A  band  of  patriotic 
women  have  formed  themselves  into  the  Old  Hadley 
Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  awakening  and  fostering  an 
interest  in  the  history  of  the  town. 

In  1909  the  children  of  Old  Hadley,  returning  to 
celebrate  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary,  will 
visit  its  historic  sanctuary.  They  will  find  it  still  on  a 
firm  foundation,  undisturbed  by  the  clang  of  trolley  or 
whizz  of  automobile  beneath  its  very  shadow,  holding 
its  lofty  steeple  high  above  the  new  church  of  St.  John 
across  the  way.  The  \veather-cock  creaks  proudly 
round  and  round  as  in  the  days  of  old,  above  the  airy 
fretwork  of  a  spire  famous  for  its  beauty  of  construction 
and  delicacy  of  finish.  Mother  of  many  churches 
round  about,  this  old  church  is  beloved  of  her  children, 
who  rejoice  to  tell  the  story  of  the  time-honored  edifice, 
and  reverence  the  memory  of  the  founders  of  the 
valley  town,  who,  with  strenuous  toil,  built  that  first 
little  meeting-house  on  the  hill. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HOPKINS   GRAMMAR   SCHOOL   AND    ACADEMY 

THE  founders  of  Hadley  were  imbued  with  a 
love  of  learning  second  only  to  their  reverence  for 
their  minister  and  meeting-house.  Education  in  those 
old  days  meant  a  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and 
the  object  of  education  was  to  preach  the  word  of 
God.  Girls  could  not  preach  and  therefore  much 
schooling  for  them  was  not  deemed  needful,  but  every 
boy  must  go  to  school  or  his  father  would  be  brought 
up  before  the  magistrate  and  punished  for  neglect  of 
duty.  Laws  to  this  effect,  made  by  the  General  Court, 
were  enforced  by  the  selectmen  of  each  town,  who, 
should  the  parent  prove  obdurate,  were  authorized  to 
take  the  child  from  his  home  and  place  him  with  a 
suitable  guardian.  Heads  of  families  were  obliged  to 
catechise  their  children,  to  bring  them  up  to  a  useful 
trade,  to  see  that  they  were  not  out  late  at  night,  and 
to  watch  lest  boys  and  girls  should  "talk  too  much 
together."  The  selectmen  were  ordered  to  make  a 
list  of  all  the  children  between  six  and  twelve  years 
old,  and  to  divide  the  town  into  districts  so  that  not 
one  truant  should  escape  their  notice. 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        75 

In  1647  a  law  was  enacted  by  which  every  town  of 
one  hundred  families  was  obliged  to  support  a  classical 
grammar  school,  where  children  should  be  fitted  for 
college.  These  schools,  although  not  free  like  the 
school  in  Boston,  were  yet  a  grievous  burden  to  the 
smaller  towns,  which,  after  the  minister  had  been 
provided  for,  found  nothing  left  wherewith  to  pay  a 
schoolmaster.  Parents  all  desired  that  the  children 
should  learn  to  read  and  to  write,  but  many  felt  it  to 
be  more  necessary  that  they  should  be  clothed  and 
fed  than  that  they  should  learn  the  dead  languages. 
Parson  Russell,  being  a  graduate  of  the  college  at 
"Newtown,"  to  which  John  Harvard  left  his  library 
and  fortune,  was  greatly  desirous  from  the  first  that 
Hadley  should  have  a  grammar  school,  but  there  seemed 
no  prospect  that  such  a  blessing  could  be  secured. 
Nevertheless,  in  due  time,  through  the  legacy  of 
Edward  Hopkins,  means  were  provided  for  the  school 
so  earnestly  desired. 

During  Parson  Russell's  pastorate  in  Wethersfield, 
Edward  Hopkins,  the  first  secretary  of  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  and  its  governor,  was  the  most  prominent 
figure  in  its  social  and  political  life.  Born  in  England 
in  1600,  this  young  Puritan  came  to  Boston  in  1637, 
in  company  with  his  close  friend,  Theophilus  Eaton, 
afterward  the  first  and  only  governor  of  the  Colony  of 
New  Haven.  Hopkins,  although  in  very  poor  health, 
found  himself  at  once  pushed  to  the  front  and  called 


76  Historic  Hadley 

upon  to  assist  in  the  solution  of  problems  of  church 
and  state.  As  a  Commissioner  of  the  United  Colonies 
he  signed  in  behalf  of  Connecticut  the  articles  of 
confederation  by  which,  in  1643,  Massachusetts,  Ply- 
mouth, Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  united  under 
the  name  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England. 

While  living  quietly  in  Hartford,  Governor  Hopkins 
continued  his  business  as  a  merchant,  pushed  his 
trading  stations  up  the  river  and  into  the  wilderness, 
and  founded  the  trade  in  American  cotton,  and  all  the 
time  "conflicted  with  bodily  infirmities  which  held 
him  for  thirty  years  together."  He  married  Anna 
Yale,  the  daughter  of  the  second  wife  of  Theophilus 
Eaton,  the  widow  of  David  Yale,  after  whose  grandson, 
Elihu  Yale,  the  college  was  named.  Mrs.  Hopkins 
was  a  literary  woman  wrho  soon  became  insane,  as  the 
record  runs,  "by  occasion  of  her  giving  herself  wholly 
to  reading  and  writing."  We  read  further,  "  Her  hus- 
band being  very  loving  and  tender,  was  loath  to  grieve 
her,  but  he  saw  his  error  when  it  was  too  late.  Eor  if 
she  had  attended  her  household  affairs  and  such  things 
as  belong  to  wromen  and  not  gone  out  of  her  way  and 
calling  to  meddle  in  such  things  as  are  proper  for  men 
whose  minds  are  stronger,  she  had  kept  her  wits  and 
might  have  improved  them  usefully  and  honorably  in 
the  place  God  had  set  her."  This  sad  effect  upon  the 
female  mind  of  too  much  study  furnished  the  wise 
men  of  that  day  with  another  argument  against  the 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        77 

education  of  women,  and  brought  lasting  grief  to  the 
too  indulgent  husband,  already  wasted  by  disease. 

In  the  midst  of  his  career  Edward  Hopkins  was 
suddenly  called  to  England  by  the  death  of  his  brother. 
Parliamentary  duties  detained  him  in  the  mother 
country,  his  family  joined  him,  and  he  died  in  London 
in  1657,  two  years  before  the  "engagers"  betook 
themselves  and  their  convictions  to  the  wilderness  of 
Hadley.  The  will  of  Governor  Hopkins,  after  making 
due  provision  for  his  "  dear  destressed  wife  "  and  other 
legacies,  bequeathed  the  residue  of  his  estate  to  The- 
ophilus  Eaton,  John  Davenport,  John  Cullick,  and 
William  Goodwin,  "  in  full  assurance  of  their  trust  and 
faithfulness  in  disposing  of  it  according  to  the  true 
intent  of  me,  the  said  Edward  Hopkins,  which  is  to 
give  some  encouragement  in  those  foreign  plantations 
for  the  breeding  of  hopeful  youths,  both  at  the  grammar 
school  and  college  for  the  public  service  of  the  country 
in  future  times." 

The  will  was  made  in  England  and  "those  foreign 
plantations"  were  the  New  England  colonies.  Mr. 
Eaton  died  soon  after  the  will  was  made,  as  did  also 
Captain  Cullick,  so  that  the  disposition  of  the  estate  fell 
to  Davenport  and  Goodwin.  As  Davenport  was  pastor 
in  Boston,  the  chief  burden  fell  upon  Goodwin,  who  was 
a  leader  in  the  movement  which  resulted  in  the  founding 
of  Hadley.  It  was  through  his  action  that  so  large  a 
part  of  the  legacy  was  secured  by  the  new  settlement. 


78  Historic  Hadley 

The  Hampshire  County  court  in  probate,  March  30, 
1669,  ratified  an  agreement  whereby  Parson  John 
Russell,  Jr.,  Samuel  Smith,  Aaron  Cooke,  Jr.,  Na- 
thaniel Dickinson,  and  Peter  Tilton  were  constituted 
trustees  to  act  with  William  Goodwin,  and  after  his 
decease  to  have  full  power  to  establish  the  school  in 
Hadley  and  to  manage  its  estates,  including  the  Hop- 
kins fund  and  all  other  property  coining  into  its  pos- 
session. Hadley 's  share  of  the  Hopkins  fund  amounted 
to  ,£308.  More  money  was  expected  to  come  from 
England  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Hopkins,  but  this  was 
never  secured  by  Hadley.  The  sum  received  was  not 
considered  sufficient  to  start  and  equip  the  grammar 
school.  In  recognition  of  this  fact  donations  came  in 
from  citizens  who,  having  no  children  of  their  own, 
desired  to  contribute  toward  so  worthy  an  object  for 
the  benefit  of  future  generations.  John  Barnard  gave 
a  part  of  Hockanum  meadow  and  some  of  the  "  Greate 
Meadowe"  and  "a  piece  of  land  lying  in  the  Forlorn"; 
and  Nathaniel  Ward,  at  whose  home  in  Hartford  the 
"engagers"  held  their  memorable  meeting,  bestowed 
his  house  and  home  lot,  and  a  piece  of  meadow  land; 
while  a  few  years  later,  Henry  Clark  left  to  the  school 
his  nine-acre  lot  in  Hockanum,  and  his  portion  of  the 
"  Greate  Meadowe."  The  town  itself  granted  "  two  little 
meddowes  next  beyond  the  Brooke  commonlie  called 
the  Mill  Brooke"  for  the  support  of  the  school,  and 
appointed  Henry  Clarke,  Lieutenant  Smith,  William 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        79 

Allis,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  and  Andrew  Warner 
as  a  committee  in  charge.  These  "  school  Meadows," 
containing  about  sixty  acres,  were  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  town,  adjoining  the  river,  and  were  separated 
by  a  high  ridge  on  which  was  the  Indian  fort.  From 
this  time  on  the  school  in  Hadley  was  known  as  the 
Hopkins  grammar  school,  true  to  the  intent  of  its 
benefactor. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  little  children  of  the 
town  were  gathered  in  some  good  wife's  kitchen  that 
first  winter  of  the  settlement  and  were  taught  by  a 
"school  dame"  first  lessons  from  the  hornbook  and 
"New  England  Primer,"  but  of  such  teaching  no 
account  has  been  preserved.  The  earliest  record  of 
any  school  in  Hadley  states  that  in  1665  it  was  "Voted 
by  the  Town  that  they  would  give  20  pound  pr  Annum 
for  3  yeares  toward  the  maintenance  of  a  Scoole  master 
to  teach  children  and  to  be  as  a  helpe  to  Mr.  Russell 
as  occasion  may  require."  This  first  "scoole  master" 
was  Mr.  Caleb  Watson,  a  Harvard  graduate,  who  was 
in  Hadley  in  1667  and  remained  as  teacher  of  the 
Hopkins  school  until  1673,  when  his  very  decided 
difference  of  opinion  with  Mr.  Russell  made  it  impos- 
sible for  him  longer  to  be  a  "  helpe "  in  any  capacity. 
His  pupils  met  in  the  house  presented  by  Goodman 
Ward,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  residence  owned 
recently  by  L.  S.  Crosier.  Probably  a  few  girls  were 
among  the  scholars,  although  remembering  the  fate  of 


80  Historic  Hadley 

Mrs.  Edward  Hopkins,  parents  must  have  feared  the 
effect  of  too  much  learning  upon  their  daughters,  and 
guarded  their  "intellects"  with  zealous  care.  Girls 
were  allowed  to  learn  to  read,  but  not  to  write,  and 
that  historic  text-book,  the  Latin  Accidence,  was  not 
for  them  to  meddle  with.  Arithmetic  was  taught  by 
oral  methods,  as  books  were  rare,  and  until  1750 
spelling  books  were  unknown. 

The  following  general  regulations,  recorded  and  en- 
forced, kept  parents  to  their  duty,  and  children  to 
their  tasks. 

"  Allsoe  with  respect  to  the  great  ffailure  of  persons 
in  not  sending  their  children  to  scoole  it  is  ordered 
and  voted  by  the  Town  that  the  present  Selectmen  and 
the  Selectmen  Annuallye  shall  take  a  list  of  all  the 
children  six  years  ould  to  twelve,  which  shall  be  com- 
pellable  if  not  sent  to  scoole  to  pay  Annuallye  according 
to  and  equallye  with  those  that  are  Sent  only  some 
poore  men's  children  which  shall  be  exempted  as  they 
shall  be  judged  by  the  Selectmen  And  ffrom  six  yeares 
ould  to  continue  till  twelve  at  scoole  except  they  Attain 
a  ripeness  and  dexteritie  in  Inferior  learning,  as  writeing 
&  reading  which  shall  be  Judged  by  the  Scoole- 
master." 

Every  Latin  "Scollard"  had  to  pay  twenty  shillings 
a  year,  and  every  English  "  Scollard  "  sixteen  shillings. 
In  1677  Mr.  John  Younglove  was  the  teacher  with  a 
salary  of  £30  a  year,  and  a  home  lot  on  which  to  live. 
In  1680  the  town  voted  to  get  a  teacher  "that  shall 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        81 

teach  the  Latin  Tongue  as  allsoe  the  English  to  any 
that  are  entered  with  writeing  and  Cyphering."  In 
1686  Samuel  Partrigg  was  engaged  to  teach,  and  was 
paid  £8  for  his  work.  Warham  Mather,  son  of  the 
minister  in  Northampton,  was  followed  in  the  school 
by  Thomas  Swan  of  Roxbury,  John  Morse  of  Dedham, 
Salmon  Treat  of  Wethersfield,  Joseph  Smith,  the  son 
of  Lieutenant  Philip  Smith,  and  John  Hubbard. 

When  in  1698  Joseph  Smith  was  again  engaged,  the 
town  built  the  first  schoolhouse,  twenty-five  by  eighteen 
feet  and  seven  feet  between  the  joists,  in  the  middle  of 
the  broad  street.  Deacon  Simeon  Dickinson,  who 
died  in  1890,  aged  ninety-five,  remembered  attending 
the  Hopkins  school  when  its  sessions  were  held  in  this 
earliest  building.  Nathaniel  Chauncey,  the  first  grad- 
uate of  Yale  College,  taught  the  school  in  1702.  Among 
those  who  came  after  him  were  Jonathan  Marsh,  John 
Partrigg,  Aaron  Porter,  all  Harvard  graduates;  and 
these  were  followed  by  Rev.  Daniel  Boardman,  John 
James,  and  Elisha  Williams  of  Hatfield,  who  after- 
ward became  president  of  Yale  College.  Stephen 
Williams  of  Deerfield,  Ebenezer  Gay  of  Dedham, 
Nathaniel  Mather  of  Windsor,  Stephen  Steele  of 
Hartford,  Solomon  Williams  of  Hatfield,  Daniel  Dwight 
of  Northampton,  Benjamin  Dickinson  of  Hatfield, 
follow  on  the  list,  until  in  1724  Israel  Chauncey,  the 
son  of  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey,  for  a  brief  period  ruled 
over  the  Hopkins  school.  Most  of  these  who  have 


82  Historic  Hadley 

been  mentioned,  and  some  who  came  later,  were  em- 
bryo ministers,  college  graduates  or  students  in  the 
midst  of  their  college  course.  During  all  these  years 
the  Hopkins  school  had  remained  a  classical  grammar 
school,  but  the  means  by  which  its  Greek  and  Latin 
courses  had  been  preserved  in  the  face  of  determined 
opposition  require  a  separate  narrative.  The  dogged 
determination  with  which  these  conscientious  guar- 
dians of  a  sacred  trust,  with  Parson  Russell  at  their 
head,  in  the  midst  of  poverty,  discouragement,  and 
Indian  alarms,  fought  to  keep  the  Hopkins  school  true 
to  the  spirit  of  its  founder  has  been  an  object  lesson 
for  all  trustees  of  public  institutions  since  those  stren- 
uous days  of  struggle  and  of  victory. 

The  trustees  of  the  Hopkins  fund  found  that  the 
most  profitable  way  in  which  to  invest  so  large  a  sum 
of  money  was  a  problem  to  be  solved.  The  building 
left  by  Goodman  Ward  could  be  used  for  a  schoolhouse, 
and  the  meadow  land  given  by  the  town  and  citizens 
would  yield  abundant  crops,  which  could  be  handed 
over  to  the  master.  Elder  Goodwin,  in  choosing  his 
trustees,  selected  men  of  strong  convictions,  and  those 
appointed  by  the  town  were  no  less  able  and  efficient. 
There  seems  to  have  been  clashing  of  wills  from  the 
first  among  the  members  of  the  board,  but  Goodwin 
ruled  the  day,  and  with  the  money  built  a  gristmill  on 
Mill  River,  south  of  the  school  lands,  and  the  town 
granted  a  home  lot  for  the  miller.  Then  with  tho 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy       83 

mill  just  finished,  and  the  school  just  started,  and  the 
little  town  which  he  had  labored  to  establish  just 
gaining  a  foothold  in  the  valley,  Ruling  Elder  Goodwin 
abandoned  the  whole  undertaking,  packed  his  house- 
hold goods,  and  in  1670  removed  to  Farmington,  Conn., 
near  to  his  former  home. 

It  seems  to  have  been  impossible  for  Mr.  Goodwin's 
determined  will  to  brook  opposition,  and  finding  that 
men  were  of  many  minds  in  Hadley  as  wrell  as  in 
Hartford,  he  decided  to  give  up  the  struggle  as  all  men 
seemed  to  be  against  him.  In  bitterness  of  spirit  he 
brought  in  1672  a  suit  in  the  Springfield  court  against 
Peter  Tilton  and  the  other  trustees  for  "intruding 
themselves  upon  the  committeeship  about  ye  estate  of 
Edward  Hopkins,  improved  in  Hadley,  contrary  to 
the  mind  of  the  said  Mr.  Goodwin,  trustee  to  the  sd 
estate."  The  case  was  dismissed,  and  seven  months 
later,  in  1673,  William  Goodwin,  the  last  Ruling  Elder 
of  Hadley,  died  a  broken-hearted  man. 

The  court  commended  his  services  in  the  following 
words : 

"The  Corte  considering  the  admirable  intenseness, 
the  indefatigable  care  and  paynes  that  Mr.  Goodwin 
hath  expressed  to  promote  and  advance  the  affairs  of 
the  scoole,  both  for  its  foundation  and  progress  Doe 
thankfully  accept  thereof."  "They  acknowledge  the 
good  hand  of  God  in  sending  those  reverend  fathers 
and  worthy  Gentlemen  the  said  Trustees  to  dispose  of 


84  Historic  Hadley 

such  an  estate  to  these  remote  parts  of  the  country 
and  of  this  colony,  for  so  worthy  and  eminent  a  work." 

Elder  Goodwin's  daughter  Elizabeth  remained  in 
Hadley  as  the  wife  of  John  Crow.  Deacon  Rodney 
Smith,  who  died  in  Hadley  in  1890,  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  William  Goodwin. 

Although  it  may  have  seemed  that  his  endeavors  in 
behalf  of  Hadley  youth  were  not  appreciated  by  his 
generation,  the  children  of  the  town  have  in  these  later 
days  reared  to  his  memory  a  noble  monument.  Be- 
neath the  shadow  of  a  patriarchal  elm  it  stands,  a 
handsome  brick  library  building,  containing  beside 
the  well  selected  volumes  a  room  filled  with  curios 
and  relics  of  old  Hadley  days.  Here  we  see  the 
interleaved  almanacs  in  which  Josiah  Pierce  traced 
his  quaint  records,  a  panel  from  the  old  first  meeting- 
house, and  many  other  articles  rescued  from  the 
shadows  of  the  past.  Over  the  entrance  appears  the 
inscription,  "This  building  was  erected  in  the  year 
1902  in  memory  of  Elder  William  Goodwin,  one  of 
the  Hadley  pioneers,  by  his  descendant  John  Dwight, 
and  other  friends  and  citizens  of  the  town." 

The  death  of  Elder  Goodwin  gave  Parson  Russell 
and  the  Hon.  Peter  Tilton  each  a  chance  to  exercise 
his  individuality  in  the  management  of  school  affairs, 
which  soon  became  complicated  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  Indian  war.  Being  far  beyond  the  stockade,  the 
school  mill  was  for  two  years  protected  by  a  small 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        85 

garrison  until,  one  dark  night  in  1677,  the  people  of 
Hadley  saw  the  northern  sky  illumined  by  flames,  and 
knew  that  the  greater  part  of  the  school  possessions 
were  no  more.  Part  of  the  mill-dam  remained,  but 
while  the  woods  were  lurking  places  for  the  enemy 
the  town  considered  it  useless  to  rebuild  the  mill,  so 
the  farmers  again  carried  their  grain  to  Hatfield,  and  the 
mill  site  was  deserted.  These  were  gloomy  days  for 
the  Hopkins  school,  and  Parson  Russell  must  have 
seen  his  cherished  vision  of  a  flourishing  classical 
institution  and  even  of  a  college  fade  in  the  distance. 
But  still  he  and  his  colleagues  kept  stout  hearts,  and 
faced  the  situation,  not  knowing  that  worse  was  yet  to 
come. 

Robert  Boltwood,  an  influential  Hadley  pioneer,  cast 
longing  glances  at  the  water  power  going  to  waste  at 
the  ruined  dam  of  the  school  mill,  and  taking  advantage 
of  the  decline  of  grammar  school  interest  among  the 
people  boldly  declared  he  was  not  afraid  of  Indians, 
and  offered  the  town  £10  for  the  site  and  remains  of 
the  dam.  The  bargain  was  completed,  and  in  1678 
Boltwood  built  his  mill,  and  equipped  it  with  mill- 
stones of  red  sandstone  brought  from  the  brow  of 
Mt.  Tom.  We  can  imagine  the  disappointment  of 
Parson  Russell  at  this  action,  and  his  indignation  at 
the  prevailing  indifference  toward  the  classical  course 
in  the  school.  The  Hopkins  money  had  been  put  into 
the  mill,  and  the  mill  was  burned.  The  remainder  of 


86  Historic  Hadley 

the  school  funds  having  been  given  by  Hadley  people, 
and  their  desire  being  to  have  an  English  school,  the 
matter  seemed  practically  settled.  March  30,  1680, 
Parson  Russell  called  the  attention  of  the  county  court 
to  "the  languishing  estate  of  the  school."  His  plea 
that  the  mill  ought  to  belong  to  the  school  was  pre- 
sented with  so  much  eloquence  that  the  court  decided 
that  it  should  "not  allow  of  so  great  a  wrong,"  and 
ordered  that  the  town  should  pay  Boltwood  what  he 
had  spent  in  rebuilding,  and  restore  the  mill  to  the 
trustees. 

In  1682  the  exchange  had  not  been  made.  Philip 
Smith  had  been  elected  to  the  board  of  trustees  in  the 
place  of  his  father,  and  to  their  future  sorrow  the 
remaining  trustees  had  chosen  Samuel  Partrigg  in 
the  place  of  Peter  Tilton,  resigned.  Russell  and 
Cooke,  for  the  trustees,  appeared  in  the  Springfield 
court  and  told  the  whole  story,  describing  the  lands 
and  moneys  received,  the  moneys  spent  for  cellar  and 
"craine"  and  chimney  and  oven  and  house  over  mill 
and  "  Damm,"  the  income  of  £%6  a  year  derived  from 
the  mill,  and  the  tragic  manner  in  which  their  grammar 
school  had  vanished  into  thin  air.  Samuel  Partrigg, 
a  man  of  great  wealth  and  influence,  favored  the  English 
school.  With  this  disaffection  within  the  board  itself 
the  case  was  hard  indeed!  Parson  Russell  pleaded, 
and  wrote  letters,  and  urged  the  matter  until  even  his 
courage  failed.  Some  question  of  title  stood  in  the 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        87 

way,  and  matters  rested  there.  In  1683  Robert  Bolt- 
wood  agreed  to  give  up  the  mill  for  £138  in  grain  and 
pork.  Then  Robert  died  and  Samuel  his  son  would 
not  fulfil  his  father's  bargain. 

Parties  of  influence  outside  of  Hadley  felt  much 
sympathy  for  Parson  Russell  as  he  thus  battled  almost 
alone  for  the  classical  school  so  dear  to  his  heart. 
October,  1686,  John  Pynchon,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Russell,  said: 

"I  am  hartily  sorry  Mr.  Partrigg  is  so  cross  in  ye 
businesse  of  the  school."  "Nothing  will  be  done  as 
it  ought  to  be  until  he  be  removed,  wh  I  suppose 
the  Predt  and  Council  may  do."  "Mr.  Tilton  fully 
falling  in  with  him,  is  as  full  and  strong  in  all  his 
notions  as  Mr.  P.  himself."  "Mr.  Tilton  said  it 
would  kindle  such  a  flame  yt  would  not  be  quenched. 
But  if  to  do  right  and  secure  public  wright  kindle  a 
flame,  the  will  of  the  Ld.  be  done." 

November  19,  1686,  a  town-meeting  was  called  in 
Hadley,  "  when  the  sun  was  a  quarter  of  an  hour  high," 
to  consider  school  matters.  Captain  Aaron  Cooke  and 
Joseph  Hawley,  sent  to  examine  into  the  school  situa- 
tion, after  wearisome  waiting,  received  from  Tilton 
and  Partrigg,  a  committee  from  the  town,  a  report  that 
there  was  "no  complaint."  Then  the  school  com- 
mittee appeared,  and  Parson  Russell,  quoting  scripture, 
gave  seven  long  reasons  why  the  school  moneys  must 
be  used  for  a  grammar  school.  Partrigg  in  reply  also 


88  Historic  Hadley 

quoted  scripture  and  said,  "He  that  can  teach  Gram- 
mar is  surely  better  fitted  to  teach  English  than  he 
that  hath  no  Grammar  in  him." 

Finally  the  town  committee  clinched  the  argument 
by  declaring  that  an  English  school  must  as  a  matter 
of  fact  be  a  grammar  school.  The  council  dismissed 
Mr.  Partrigg,  and  a  committee  of  arbitration  decided 
that  Samuel  Boltwood  should  be  paid  for  what  he  and 
his  father  had  expended  for  the  mill,  and  that  the 
property  should  be  delivered  to  the  trustees  of  the 
Hopkins  fund  "for  the  maintenance  of  the  school  to 
which  it  belongs."  The  last  clause  was  open  to  almost 
any  construction,  and  a  paper  passed  through  the  towrn 
for  signatures  disclosed  the  fact  that  only  eleven  men 
and  one  woman  believed  that  the  school  in  question 
should  be  a  grammar  school  instead  of  an  English 
school. 

But  the  hard-fought  battle  for  the  continuance  of 
classical  instruction  in  Hadley  was  won,  and  the  mill 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  trustees,  who  used  the 
income  for  the  grammar  school  until  the  great  flood 
of  1692  swept  the  whole  structure  away  down  the 
stream.  The  mill  was  presently  rebuilt,  and  for  a 
time  John  Clary  was  the  miller,  and  after  him  Joseph 
Smith  and  his  son  Benjamin,  and  grandsons  Erastus, 
Caleb,  and  Benjamin.  The  rent  was  used  for  the 
support  of  the  school,  which  throughout  the  quarrel 
had  kept  up  its  regular  sessions. 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        89 

In  1720  the  school  committee,  as  the  board  of 
trustees  was  now  called,  consisted  of  Chileab  Smith, 
Thomas  Hovey,  Samuel  Porter,  Sergt.  Joseph  Smith, 
and  Deacon  John  Smith.  In  1733  the  record  states: 

"We  the  subscribers,  Lieutenant  Westwood  Cooke, 
Lieut.  John  Smith,  and  Eleazer  Porter  of  the  Scool 
Committy  in  Hadley  have  made  Choyce  of  Deacon 
Samuel  Dickinson  to  serve  as  a  committy  man  in  the 
room  and  sted  of  Lieut.  Thomas  Hovey,  one  of  the 
scool  Committy,  he  being  aged  and  crazy  and  declines 
the  service  any  longer.  And  we  have  also  made 
Choyce  of  Mr.  Job  Marsh  to  serve  as  a  Committy  man 
in  the  room  and  sted  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  one  of  our 
late  scool  committy  men  now  deceast." 

Thus  one  by  one  the  older  members  of  the 
school  committee  dropped  away  and  their  successors 
were  chosen  by  those  who  still  remained.  Moses 
Cooke,  Deacon  Joseph  Eastman,  "Ensine"  Moses 
Marsh,  Deacon  Enos  Nash,  Samuel  Gaylord,  David 
Smith,  Elisha  Porter,  Edmund  Hubbard,  Charles 
Phelps,  Oliver  Smith,  Enos  Nash,  and  Elisha  Dickinson 
each  took  his  turn  in  looking  after  the  interests  of  the 
Hopkins  grammar  school.  Sometimes  the  committee 
lent  the  town  the  money  to  pay  the  teacher,  so  that  it 
seemed  a  little  doubtful  by  whom  he  was  engaged,  but 
so  long  as  he  continued  to  teach  the  "  Latin  Accidence  " 
it  made  but  little  difference. 

In    1743    the    school    committee,    Eleazer    Porter, 


90  Historic  Hadley 

Westwood  Cooke,  John  Smith,  Samuel  Dickinson, 
and  Job  Marsh,  engaged  Josiah  Pierce  of  Woburn,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  in  1735,  to  teach  the  Hopkins 
school,  and  unlike  the  short  terms  of  his  predecessors, 
his  administration  lasted  until  1755.  His  home  was 
on  the  present  site  of  the  church  and  town  hall.  His 
salary  of  £27  j  a  year,  with  the  use  of  twenty-five  acres 
of  land,  and  a  pittance  gained  by  serving  as  town 
clerk,  kept  his  family  in  comfort.  Although  not  a 
minister  he  occasionally  supplied  a  pulpit,  for  which 
he  received  ten  shillings  a  Sunday.  The  entries  in  his 
interleaved  almanac  have  given  us  many  facts  about 
those  old  school  days  in  Hadley.  Somehow  the  select- 
men lost  their  grip  upon  both  pupils  and  parents,  for 
Mr.  Pierce  had  sometimes  five  and  sometimes  thirty 
scholars  in  his  school,  and  children  came  or  not  as  they 
and  their  parents  pleased.  One  day  the  record  reads, 
"No  school  because  no  scholars  sent."  November 
19,  1742,  we  find  this  entry: 

"This  day  being  the  day  before  Thanksgiving  I 
keep  school  all  day  as  I  have  heretofore,  willing  to 
attend;  if  parents  will  let  their  children  attend;  but 
they  the  most  of  them,  letting  their  children  play 
about  the  streets  rather  than  send  them  to  school,  I 
determine  not  to  attend  ye  school  in  ye  afternoon  of 
such  day  hereafter." 

After  twelve  years  of  service  Mr.  Pierce  left  Hadley 
to  teach  in  Northampton  and  South  Hadley,  but  in 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        91 

1760  he  returned  and  was  again  for  six  years  the  teacher 
of  the  grammar  school.  Afterwards  he  kept  a  "cy- 
phering school"  in  Amherst  until  obliged  to  close  it 
for  want  of  wood.  This  veteran  school  teacher  knew 
some  things  beside  the  lore  of  books,  for  in  1763  he 
showed  the  Hadley  farmers  how  to  raise  a  new  crop, 
that  of  potatoes,  red  in  color  and  not  at  first  considered 
as  fit  to  be  eaten.  Eight  bushels  of  this  queer  sort  of 
"root"  Josiah  Pierce  put  into  his  cellar  that  first 
winter,  and  three  years  later  his  crop  was  sixty  bushels. 
After  a  time  he  seems  to  have  found  raising  potatoes 
more  profitable  than  drilling  Latin  verbs  into  the  minds 
of  stupid  scholars,  for  we  see  him  no  more  in  the  school- 
room, and  three  hundred  bushels  of  potatoes  produced 
upon  his  land  in  1769  supplied  the  whole  town.  Josiah 
Pierce  died  in  1788,  having  made  his  record  not  only 
as  a  teacher  of  the  dead  languages  but  also  as  an 
agriculturist  far  in  advance  of  his  time. 

The  first  day  of  the  new  year,  1816,  was  memorable 
in  Hadley.  In  a  town-meeting  held  that  morning  it 
was  voted  to  ask  the  General  Court  that  the  Hopkins 
fund  should  be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  an 
academy  for  the  benefit  not  only  of  Hadley  but  of  the 
surrounding  towns  as  well.  This  petition  was  granted. 
The  people  were  now  united  in  their  desire  for  a  pre- 
paratory school,  and  the  wisdom  of  Parson  Russell's 
policy  was  vindicated  by  the  descendants  of  those  who 
fought  so  bitterly  against  it.  The  trustees  of  the 


92  Historic  Hadley 

grammar  school,  Seth  Smith,  William  Porter,  Jacob 
Smith,  William  Dickinson,  and  Moses  Porter,  after 
the  incorporation  of  the  academy  was  complete,  chose 
Rev.  Dan  Huntington,  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  Rev. 
Joseph  Lyman,  and  Isaac  C.  Bates  as  additional 
members  of  the  board,  and  began  to  make  plans  for 
a  new  academy  building.  Part  of  the  home  lot  of 
Chester  Gaylord  was  secured  as  a  site.  Many  persons 
contributed  building  material,  supplies,  and  labor,  and 
others  gave  from  fifty  to  eighty  cents  in  money,  and  so 
the  work  went  on.  Another  year  saw  a  fine  three- 
storied  brick  building  on  the  site  of  the  academy 
building  of  to-day.  It  was  an  elegant  structure  for  a 
rural  town,  and  people  came  to  see  it  from  all  the 
country  round.  Its  entire  cost  was  $4,954.90.  De- 
cember 9,  1817,  the  new  building  was  dedicated. 
Rev.  Joseph  Lyman  of  Hatfield  made  the  prayer,  and 
Rev.  John  Woodbridge  preached  the  sermon  from  the 
text,  "And  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 
children."  The  first  school  session  in  the  new  building 
was  held  September  10,  1817,  with  Rev.  Dan  Hunt- 
ington, preceptor,  Giles  Crouch  Kellogg  and  Miss 
Sophia  Moseley,  assistants.  The  next  year  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington  received  $500  salary,  Mr.  Kellogg  $20  a  month, 
and  Miss  Sally  Williston  $12  a  month  and  board. 

The  new  school  building  fronted  on  the  middle  lane, 
and  the  main  entrance  opened  at  first  directly  upon 
the  sidewalk,  but  soon  the  trustees  were  allowed  to 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        93 

enclose  part  of  the  lane  for  a  school-yard.  Two  class- 
rooms occupied  the  lower  floor,  and  five  rooms,  used 
for  recitations  and  to  contain  scientific  apparatus  and 
the  beginning  of  a  library,  occupied  the  second  floor. 
The  spacious  third  story,  known  as  Academy  Hall, 
was  the  pride  of  the  town.  At  the  east  end,  on  the 
stage  four  feet  above  the  floor,  embryo  orators  spouted 
poetry,  and  read  compositions  at  the  Wednesday  after- 
noon rhetorical  exercises,  to  the  edification  of  admiring 
friends.  Here  debates  were  held  on  abstruse  subjects, 
exhibitions  were  given,  lecturers  spoke  words  of  wis- 
dom, and  diplomas  were  awarded  to  those  who  had 
attained  a  "ripeness  and  dexteritie"  in  all  sorts  of 
learning.  Truly  the  days  of  prosperity  for  classical 
education,  so  fondly  dreamed  of  by  Parson  Russell, 
were  at  last  realized  by  Hopkins  Academy,  the  daughter 
of  the  grammar  school. 

The  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  academy  trustees,  the 
year  the  school  was  opened,  were  increased  by  a  grant 
from  the  General  Court  of  half  a  township  in  Maine, 
which  was  sold,  the  proceeds  being  turned  into  the 
school  treasury.  The  academy  prospered  greatly, 
ninety-nine  students,  sixty-five  from  Hadley,  being 
enrolled  the  second  year.  Tuition  was  from  three 
dollars  to  three  dollars  and  a  half  a  quarter,  and  board, 
including  room  rent  and  washing,  was  one  dollar  and 
a  half  a  week.  Those  whose  necessities  required  it 
found  work  to  help  defray  their  expenses.  All  pupils 


94  Historic  Hadley 

were  compelled  to  attend  church  and  prayer  meeting 
and  the  Bible  was  a  most  important  text-book.  Mr. 
Huntington  was  the  preceptor  until  1821.  Other  pre- 
ceptors were  Rev.  Worthington  Smith,  D.D.,  afterward 
the  president  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  Oliver  S. 
Taylor,  who  died  in  1885  aged  one  hundred  years, 
Rev.  John  A.  Nash,  who  came  to  Amherst  and  estab- 
lished Nash's  school,  George  Nichols,  afterward  rector 
of  Hopkins'  Grammar  School  in  New  Haven,  Timothy 
Dwight,  of  the  class  of  1827  in  Amherst  College,  and 
Rev.  Ezekiel  Russell,  D.D.,  Amherst  College,  1829, 
who  became  pastor  of  Olivet  Church,  Springfield. 

In  the  early  days  of  Hopkins  Academy  four  of  the 
principals  each  found  a  wife  among  the  assistant 
teachers.  In  1831  one  hundred  and  fifty  young  men 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  young  women  were 
enrolled  among  the  students,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  of  these  being  from  out  of  town.  The  fame  of 
the  academy  extended  west  and  south,  and  pupils 
from  Ohio,  Georgia,  Virginia,  Alabama,  and  Florida 
entered  to  prepare  for  college.  In  1831  the  question 
arose  as  to  the  rights  of  the  trustees  to  allow  the  benefits 
of  the  school  to  extend  to  so  many  outside  of  the  town, 
and  the  matter  was  taken  into  court  and  decided  in 
favor  of  the  trustees.  As  free  high  schools  became 
common,  academies  everywhere  declined,  and  the  insti- 
tution in  Hadley  suffered  with  the  rest.  Finally  in 
1851  began  the  last  controversy  about  the  Hopkins 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        95 

fund,  when  in  town-meeting  Samuel  Nash,  Esq.,  Dr. 
Bonney,  and  P.  S.  Williams,  Esq.,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  see  if  the  school  could  not  be  made  free 
to  the  town.  Year  after  year  the  matter  was  brought 
up,  discussed,  and  left  undecided.  The  trustees  claimed 
that  "the  town  has  no  more  exclusive  rights  to  the 
funds  of  the  Hopkins  Academy  than  to  those  of  any 
other  literary  institution,"  and  that  "  the  trustees  believe 
that  it  is  the  best  for  all  concerned  that  the  charter  of 
our  academy  remain  unmolested."  At  last  in  1860 
fate  seemed  against  the  trustees,  for  the  academy 
building,  on  which  no  insurance  had  been  placed,  was 
destroyed  by  fire. 

Then  came  the  opportunity  of  the  town.  March  26, 
1860,  it  was  voted: 

"Whereas,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the  Academy 
building  has  been  destroyed  by  fire  and  thereby  a 
favorable  opportunity  presented  to  the  town  for  an 
effort  to  make  available  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town  the  benefits  of  the  school  fund  which  was  given  by 
the  town  and  by  benevolent  individuals  for  the  promotion 
and  advancement  of  learning;  therefore,  voted;  that  the 
town  will  erect  a  building  suitable  for  the  accomoda- 
tion  of  a  Free  High  School,  provided  the  trustees  will 
enter  into  an  arrangement  and  agreement  with  the 
town  that  they  will  appropriate  the  annual  income  of 
the  fund  to  aid  in  support  of  such  school." 

The  trustees,  though  at  a  disadvantage,  were  still 
loth  to  give  up  their  charter,  and  clung  to  the  name 


96  Historic  Hadley 

"Hopkins  Academy."  When  finally  overpersuaded, 
they  insisted  that  the  new  high  school  should  be  built 
on  the  site  of  the  old  academy.  The  town  objected,  and 
a  board  of  arbitration,  to  which  the  matter  was  submit- 
ted, stood  five  to  five,  and  there  the  matter  rested. 

For  two  years  school  was  kept  in  the  basement  of 
the  church.  In  1862  Levi  Stockb ridge,  Horace  Cook, 
and  Theodore  Huntington  were  added  to  the  board  of 
trustees,  and  the  offer  was  made  that  if  the  town 
would  pay  $300,  the  school  should  be  free  to  Hadley 
pupils  for  one  year.  This  proposition  was  accepted, 
and  five  years  after  the  first  vote  was  taken  the  subject 
of  a  high  school  building  was  again  cautiously  intro- 
duced, and  at  last  it  was  voted  to  place  it  on  the  site  of 
the  old  academy.  The  triumph  of  the  trustees  was 
thus  made  complete.  Hopkins  Academy  of  ancient 
lineage  was  thenceforth  to  be  a  school  free  to  all  pupils 
of  the  town  able  to  meet  the  entrance  requirements. 

During  these  years  the  school  meadows  had  been 
gathering  Hatfield  soil  washed  over  by  the  river,  which 
made  a  new  channel  and  thus  created  an  island.  This 
finally  was  added  to  the  mainland,  and  thus  the  sixty 
acres  first  given  by  the  town  became  in  1844  a  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  acres,  which  the  trustees  were  granted 
leave  to  sell,  thereby  increasing  the  fund  to  $57,325. 
The  mill  privilege  at  North  Hadley  was  sold  to  L.  N. 
Granger  for  $300.  The  trustees  in  1890  owned  ten 
acres  of  land  on  Mount  Holyoke,  eleven  in  Hockanum 


Hopkins  Grammar  School  and  Academy        97 

Meadow,  four  and  a  half  in  Aqua  Vitse  Meadow,  five 
in  the  Great  Upper  Landing,  two  in  the  Great  Lower 
Landing,  besides  sundry  investments  in  stocks  and 
mortgages. 

Many  graduates  of  this  famous  old  academy  have 
preached  the  gospel  throughout  the  earth.  Jeremiah 
Porter  was  a  home  missionary  on  the  western  frontier. 
Elijah  C.  Bridgman  and  James  G.  Bridgman  carried 
the  good  news  to  China.  Dyer  Ball  went  out  to  Sin- 
gapore. John  Dunbar  was  a  teacher  among  the 
Pawnee  Indians.  Dwight  W.  Marsh  and  Lyman 
Bartlett  were  sent  to  Turkey,  and  Henry  M.  Bridgman 
was  a  pioneer  missionary  in  South  Africa.  A  long  list 
of  ministers,  thirty  doctors,  twenty-five  lawyers,  are 
included  in  the  roll  of  honor.  Among  the  eminent 
educators  we  find  William  D.  Whitney  of  Yale,  Levi 
Stockbridge,  president  of  the  agricultural  college  at 
Amherst,  Professor  Richard  H.  Mather  of  Amherst 
College,  President  L.  Clark  Seelye  of  Smith  College. 
Thirty-eight  ministers  secured  their  wives  among  the 
Hopkins  alumni,  and  in  this  list  we  find  Miss  Eunice 
Bullard,  who  married  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  Major 
General  Joseph  Hooker  and  General  Joseph  B.  Plum- 
mer  are  among  those  educated  in  the  Hopkins  school 
who  served  their  country  in  the  civil  war.  Verily  old 
Parson  Russell  and  his  colleagues  who  established  and 
maintained  the  integrity  of  the  grammar  school  in 
Hadley  builded  better  than  they  knew. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   WEALTH    OF   THE   RIVER   AND   THE   FERTILE 
MEADOWS 

FAR  up  among  the  northern  hills  the  brimming 
waters  of  two  crystal  fountains  united  in  a  tiny  rivulet, 
which  trickled  southward  toward  the  sea.  "Heart 
Lake"  and  "Double  Lake"  through  which  it  passed 
paid  tribute,  and  four  rippling  mountain  brooks  has- 
tened to  swell  the  stream.  Now  dashing  over  rocks 
and  boulders,  now  broken  into  roaring  cataracts,  now 
flowing  in  a  somber  sheet  within  the  shadow  of  rugged 
mountain  peaks,  with  steady  persistence  the  river 
shaped  its  course.  Salmon  and  sturgeon  leaped  amid 
its  rapids,  and  wild  birds  skimmed  its  shining  surface. 
Flocks  of  pigeons,  pausing  in  their  flight,  whitened  the 
shores,  and  timid  deer  drank  undisturbed  the  clear 
and  sparkling  waters.  Beside  the  river,  all  along  the 
way,  solemn  pine  forests  guarded  curve  and  shallow, 
while  single  trees  on  bank  and  hilltop  kept  untiring 
watch.  The  summer  breeze  blew  softly  through  these 
dark  woods,  and  tiny  blossoms  peeped  timidly  up 
through  crevices  in  the  brown  carpet  of  dry  pine 
needles.  No  sign  of  civilization  marred  the  freshness 


X 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows          99 

of  the  picture.  The  native  hunter  as  he  glided  in  his 
light  canoe  from  shore  to  shore  seemed  closely  akin  to 
the  creatures  of  the  woods  and  waters.  This  undis- 
covered country  was  the  red  man's  heritage  and  his 
ancestral  home. 

The  Indians  christened  their  river  "Quinnetuk,"  the 
long  river  with  waves.  "  Quonektacut "  was  applied 
in  later  years  to  include  both  the  stream  and  the  land 
along  its  shores.  The  little  rill  from  the  north,  its 
tortuous  journey  over,  found  at  last  its  outlet,  and 
four  hundred  miles  from  its  source  poured  a  mighty 
flood  into  Long  Island  Sound.  In  place  of  mountain 
cliff  and  rocky  headland,  pebbly  beaches  and  sloping 
grassy  banks  and  open  meadow  lands  added  new 
beauty  to  the  smiling  landscape.  But  still  the  dark 
pine  forests,  untouched  by  woodman's  'ax,  crowned 
every  eminence,  and  clung  persistently  wherever  they 
could  find  a  foothold.  Therefore  the  Indian  added 
to  the  harsh  word  "Quonektacut"  the  poetic  title 
"  River  of  Pines."  This  name  has  long  since  been 
forgotten.  The  grim  and  gloomy  pines  which  gave 
the  words  their  meaning  disappeared  before  the  settlers' 
rude  attack,  and  the  river  Indians  themselves  vanished 
to  make  way  for  the  colonist  and  his  civilization.  A 
few  dry  bones  and  arrow  heads  are  all  that  remain  of 
these  ancient  owners  of  the  Connecticut  valley.  The 
romance  of  the  river  has  departed  and  its  tale  is  still 
untold. 


100  Historic  Hadley 

This  historic  stream  was  a  most  important  factor  in 
the  settlement  of  the  valley  towns.  When  Indian  trails 
were  the  only  traveled  paths  and  highways  were  un- 
known, this  natural  waterway  formed  a  connecting 
link  between  the  isolated  villages  by  means  of  which 
they  were  kept  in  touch  with  each  other  and  in  com- 
munication with  the  outside  world.  The  founders  of 
Hadley  knew  the  river  as  a  somewhat  fickle  friend, 
which  in  its  angry  moods  proved  a  serious  menace  to 
all  within  its  reach.  In  early  spring  the  frozen  highway 
was  suddenly  transformed  into  a  roaring  torrent.  A 
moving  ice  floe  from  the  north  swept  down  with 
irresistible  force  and  miniature  icebergs  ground  against 
each  other  with  savage  fury  and  were  pounded  to 
fragments  among  the  rocks  and  rapids.  Then,  a 
mighty  flood,  the  swollen  river  spread  far  over  the 
meadows,  and,  receding,  left  a  deposit  of  rich  soil 
which  would  produce  a  bountiful  yield  of  hay  and 
grain.  The  colonist  loved  his  river  in  all  its  moods. 
He  built  his  house  where,  from  the  open  door,  he 
could  discern  its  shining  surface.  In  time  of  inunda- 
tion he  kept  his  canoe  fastened  to  the  door-post,  and 
until  the  water  entered  the  dwelling  refused  to  leave 
his  home.  When  he  discovered  that  the  fickle  stream 
by  cutting  through  a  neck  of  land  had  in  a  night 
removed  a  portion  of  his  estate  to  a  neighboring  town, 
still  with  an  unconquered  spirit  the  valley  farmer  met 
these  new  conditions,  subdued  the  forces  of  nature 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        101 

and  taught  them  to  become  his  servants,  refused  to  be 
driven  from  the  land  of  his  adoption,  and  is  buried 
to-day  beside  the  river  in  the  beautiful  valley  where  he 
delighted  to  dwell. 

The  Hadley  housewife  found  the  river  a  means  of 
supplying  her  larder  when  other  sources  failed.  Game 
became  scarce  upon  the  mountains  and  in  1698  the  x 
State  enacted  laws  for  the  protection  of  deer.  In  1740 
Westwood  Cooke,  Samuel  Rugg,  and  John  Nash  served 
Hadley  as  "  Deer  Reeves,"  and  received  for  the  detec- 
tion of  each  guilty  hunter  half  the  fine  imposed  for 
killing  game  contrary  to  law.  Even  wild  turkeys  - 
finally  disappeared,  but  fish  was  always  plentiful  and 
free  to  all  alike.  So  every  Hadley  farmer  became  a 
fisherman,  and  seine  and  scoop-net  his  implements  of 
toil.  The  first  settlers  found  shad  and  salmon  in 
abundance.  Believing  that  things  of  value  were  only 
to  be  secured  by  means  of  time  and  labor,  for  many 
years  the  citizens  cared  little  for  the  food  so  easily 
obtained  and  were  ashamed  when  caught  with  fish 
upon  their  tables.  Pork  was  their  medium  of  exchange, 
and  to  be  eating  fish  implied  a  scarcity  of  pork  and  a 
state  of  poverty  to  be  deplored.  Then  salmon  were 
taken  into  favor,  and  shad,  when  scooped  by  mistake, 
were  thrown  back  into  the  river.  After  many  years 
the  fashion  changed  and  shad  became  a  favorite  food 
and  salmon  were  discarded.  One  old  Hadley  resident 
who  had  the  courage  to  declare  that  shad  are  very 


102  Historic  Hadley 

good  whether  one  has  any  pork  or  not  was  said  to 
have  a  "very  peculiar  taste."  But  whatever  the 
opinion,  when  game  became  scarce  the  people  were 
thankful  to  take  the  food  provided  without  question  or 
complaint.  The  thought  that  fish  could  be  worth 
money  did  not  at  first  enter  their  minds,  and  there  has 
been  found  no  record  of  the  sale  of  shad  before  1733. 

In  1715  the  General  Court  made  an  additional  grant 
of  a  tract  of  land  four  miles  square  to  the  township  of 
Hadley,  so  that  the  town  should  thereafter  include 
within  its  limits  what  is  now  South  Hadley  and  South 
Hadley  Falls  and  control  the  fishing  privilege  at  the 
"Create  Falls"  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  Three 
other  excellent  fishing  places,  one  below  the  mouth  of 
Mill  River,  one  a  little  east  of  the  southern  end  of  the 
same  river,  and  another  near  Hockanum  Meadow, 
belonged  especially  to  Hadley.  Forty  salmon,  weigh- 
ing between  thirty  and  forty  pounds  each,  were  caught 
in  one  day  near  the  second  of  these  places,  and  here 
Enos  Lyman  took  three  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty  fish  in  one  prodigious  haul.  Josiah  Pierce  and 
six  other  Hadley  men  owned  a  seine  together  in  1766, 
and  sold  shad  for  a  penny  apiece.  The  first  dam  at 
South  Hadley  Falls  made  it  difficult  for  the  salmon  to 
ascend  the  river,  so  that  after  1800  few  were  caught  in 
the  upper  stream. 

The  settlers,  having  learned  from  the  Indians  their 
method  of  taking  fish  from  the  rocks  at  the  "  Create 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        103 

Falls,"  devised  improvements  as  facilities  increased. 
Each  spring  time  crowds  of  men  and  boys  hastened 
to  this  famous  fishing  place  to  gather  in  the  bounty  of 
the  river.  The  first  of  May  became  a  sort  of  picnic 
season,  anticipated  through  the  long  winter  by  those 
to  whom  vacations  were  unknown.  Life  was  one 
tedious  work  day  of  interminable  hours,  so  that  the 
youth  of  Hadley  hailed  with  joy  an  excuse  for  anything 
like  recreation.  With  the  approach  of  the  shad  season 
nets  and  other  fishing  implements  were  repaired,  and 
all  was  made  ready  for  the  great  event  of  the  year. 
When  April  showers  had  melted  the  snows  which  had 
made  the  roads  impassable,  a  straggling  procession 
climbed  the  hills  and  struggled  through  the  mud  with 
all  faces  turned  toward  the  "Greate  Falls."  Here 
were  men  on  horseback  with  bags  in  which  to  load 
their  fish,  and  here  a  farmer  rode  in  his  cart,  and 
again  a  horseman  led  another  horse  provided  to 
carry  the  load.  Many  brought  provisions  intending  to 
camp  upon  the  river  bank,  and  others  sought  accom- 
modation in  homes  along  the  way.  Hadley  inns  thus 
became  crowded,  and  private  houses  were  filled  with 
guests.  From  the  middle  of  April  until  toward  the 
first  of  June  all  Hampshire  County  went  a  fishing. 
Fifteen  hundred  horses  were  sometimes  tied  to  the 
trees  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls,  where  their  owners 
were  either  buying  or  catching  fish.  Below  the  Falls 
men  were  drawing  in  the  seines,  and  from  boats  fas- 


104  Historic  Hadley 

tened  to  the  rocks  were  taking  in  the  shad  with  scoop- 
nets,  while  others  were  spearing  sturgeon  or  making 
bargains  with  those  who  came  to  buy.  At  nightfall 
Hadley  fishermen  hastened  homeward,  but  others  from 
a  distance  camped  beside  the  falls,  and  after  dark,  by 
the  light  of  flaring  torches,  caught  great  lamprey  eels 
which  in  the  hill  towns  were  much  esteemed  for  food. 
Frolicsome  boys  enjoyed  the  sport  of  wading  in  the 
water  after  dark,  and  by  the  flaring  torchlight,  with 
the  hand  protected  by  a  coarse  yarn  mitten,  picked  up 
the  eels  and  carried  them  to  the  shore.  Light  and 
trifling  youngsters  spent  the  evening  in  wrestling  and 
trials  of  skill,  with  glasses  of  rum  for  refreshment,  but 
such  sports  were  few  and  were  frowned  upon  severely. 
After  the  fishing  season  fresh  fish  were  daily  on  the 
family  table,  and  quantities  were  cured  for  winter  use, 
until,  for  self-protection,  hired  men,  in  making  a  contract, 
stipulated  that  they  should  be  obliged  to  eat  only 
a  certain  amount  of  salted  shad. 

Next  to  the  fisheries,  after  the  Revolution,  lumbering 
became  of  great  importance  to  the  valley  towns.  All 
along  the  shore  new  villages  were  springing  up,  and 
with  the  progress  of  civilization  came  the  downfall  of 
the  forests.  After  the  peace  with  the  Indians  in  1726, 
great  logs  of  pine,  cut  in  the  far  north  by  a  company 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  men,  floated  down 
the  river  on  the  way  to  the  king's  contractor  in  Boston, 
who  purchased  them  for  the  masts  of  British  vessels. 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        105 

Agents  of  the  king  in  every  town  kept  watch  and  seized 
all  logs  of  the  required  size,  claiming  them  by  virtue 
of  the  "Pine  Tree  Laws,"  which  were  very  offensive 
to  the  people.  After  the  Revolution  pine  trees  were  cut 
and  sent  to  market  without  restriction.  Timber  was 
by  this  time  scarce  in  Hadley,  and  tradition  says  that 
more  than  once  logs  which  lodged  in  a  farmer's  door- 
yard  were  built  into  his  new  house  with  the  excuse 
that  being  on  his  land  they  were  his  property.  Many 
difficulties  arose  between  the  lumbermen  and  farmers, 
the  former  bringing  suit  against  the  latter  for  stopping 
their  logs,  and  the  latter  making  complaint  for  the 
damage  done  to  their  meadows.  Rafting  was  found 
to  be  more  practicable  than  floating  single  logs,  and 
often  in  the  spring  the  river  would  be  full  of  rafts, 
propelled  by  ponderous  oars.  With  creak  and  groan 
and  shouts  of  warning  from  the  oarsmen,  the  great 
flotilla,  laden  with  shingles  and  clapboards,  swept  on 
with  the  grandeur  of  an  army  corps,  waking  the  echoes 
from  the  mountain  sides,  and  calling  the  inhabitants 
to  see  the  wondrous  sight.  The  life  of  the  lumberman 
was  a  series  of  adventures.  Embarking  near  the  head 
waters  of  the  stream,  exposed  to  storm  and  stress  of 
weather,  floating  past  forests  infested  by  wild  beasts, 
tossing  through  rapids  and  wedged  between  great  rocks 
and  stranded  in  sand  and  shallows,  he  shaped  his 
tortuous  course,  and  by  skilful  steering  reached  at 
last  the  haven  of  his  hopes.  Rafts  of  boards  could 


106  Historic  Hadley 

thus  be  transported  over  the  falls,  but  sawed  lumber 
had  to  be  carted,  so  in  1765  the  "Lumber  Road"  was 
built,  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length,  from  above  the 
falls  to  the  landing  below  the  rapids.  Near  this  road, 
in  the  Falls  Field  and  Falls  Wood,  were  three  saw- 
mills and  a  tavern  kept  by  Titus  Pomeroy,  and  after- 
ward there  was  another,  the  property  of  Daniel  Lamb. 
The  farmers  of  the  vicinity,  changing  their  occupation, 
became  carriers  of  lumber,  and  the  Hadley  landing- 
place,  taken  from  John  Chapin's  farm,  was  a  scene  of 
great  activity. 

The  island  which  had  formed  below  Fort  Meadow, 
not  belonging  to  any  one,  was  observed  with  envious 
eyes.  One  season  the  grass  was  cut  by  a  Hadley 
citizen  named  Brooks,  and  when  he  came  to  get  his 
hay,  behold  it  was  not  there,  being  safely  stowed  away 
in  the  barn  of  Nathaniel  Day  across  the  river.  In 
1770  the  General  Court  sold  the  island  to  Solomon 
Stoddard,  who  made  a  bargain  for  half  of  it  with 
Noah  Edwards,  and  in  1803  Levi  Shepherd  bought  the 
whole  of  it  for  $1,200. 

Commerce  and  articles  of  exchange  increased,  and 
the  Hadley  farmer,  not  satisfied  to  raft  and  cart  his 
shingles,  loading  and  unloading  at  much  expense  of 
time  and  labor,  felt  that  the  problem  of  more  rapid 
river  transportation  must  at  once  be  solved.  Though 
at  intervals  great  rocks  and  rapids  threatened  destruc- 
tion to  any  who  attempted  passage,  and  shoals  and 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        107 

shallows  wrought  daily  changes  in  the  channel,  never- 
theless those  sturdy  pioneers,  having  subdued  the 
wilderness,  were  not  to  be  discouraged  by  waterfalls 
and  sandbars.  Vast  projects  for  improvements  shaped 
themselves  within  the  public  mind  and  were  expressed 
through  the  public  press. 

By  strenuous  efforts  the  settlers  had  been  able  from 
the  first  to  carry  on  some  traffic  with  their  friends  in 
the  upper  valley,  and  thus  secure  many  things  needful 
for  their  comfort.  "  Greate  Canoes,"  laden  with  three 
or  four  tons  of  "Flower"  and  "Porke"  and  beaver 
skins,  and  managed  by  two  men,  were  the  first  freight 
boats  to  run  the  rapids,  but  the  passage  was  both 
difficult  and  dangerous.  Then  came  the  "Falls 
Boats,"  a  kind  of  shipping  now  extinct.  These  were 
of  two  kinds:  "Pine  Boats,"  twenty-five  tons  burden, 
with  neither  cabin  nor  floor,  and  "  Oak  Boats,"  which 
were  fitted  up  with  comfortable  accommodations  for 
the  crew.  The  tiny  cabin,  lighted  with  four  windows, 
was  warmed  by  a  cook  stove,  and  provided  with  four 
bunks,  which  in  the  daytime  were  turned  up  against 
the  side  of  the  boat.  A  mainmast,  topmast,  mainsail 
and  topsail,  made  it  possible  to  take  advantage  of  the 
slightest  wind,  and  there  were  two  pairs  of  stout  oars 
with  which,  when  breezes  failed,  the  boat  could  be 
moved  along.  Loaded  with  farm  produce,  shingles, 
ash  plank,  furs,  and  fish,  these  unwieldy  vessels  would 
move  slowly  down  the  river,  assisted  through  the  rapids 


108  Historic  Hadley 

and  over  the  falls  by  experienced  pilots  who  lived 
along  the  shore.  How  the  boys  and  girls  must  have 
shouted  and  the  women  have  run  to  the  doors  to 
see  the  Dispatch,  or  the  Flying  Fish,  or  the  Clinton, 
or  the  Vermont  come  sailing  bravely  by!  The  name 
of  each  vessel,  painted  outside  its  cabin  in  large 
black  letters,  was  scanned  with  interest  from  the 
shore,  and  many  a  farmer  hailed  the  boatman  to  learn 
the  news  from  up  the  river,  or  ask  for  transportation 
for  something  he  had  to  sell. 

Having  no  keel,  these  Falls  Boats  slipped  over  rocks 
and  sandbars  and  without  much  difficulty  reached  their 
destination,  delivered  their  cargoes,  and  were  loaded 
again  with  all  the  various  goods  in  the  country  store 
for  use  by  the  farmer  and  his  family.  Then  came  a 
time  of  trial.  All  those  weary  miles  the  heavily  laden 
boat  was  poled  up  stream,  with  ash  poles,  assisted 
sometimes  by  the  wind  but  more  often  in  a  perfect  calm. 
Poling  was  the  hardest  work  known  and  caused 
much  lameness  and  blistering  of  the  skin  in  front  of 
the  shoulder,  for  which  a  frequent  application  of  rum 
was  a  remedy.  An  old  writer  says,  "  It  was  also 
thought  well  to  take  some  inside."  When  the  boat 
reached  the  rapids  in  its  progress  up  the  stream,  either 
it  was  hitched  to  an  ox  team  on  shore,  or  several  men 
would  take  the  place  of  oxen.  Reaching  smooth  water, 
and  aided  by  a  friendly  breeze,  it  would  dash  onward 
at  the  furious  speed  of  five  miles  an  hour  toward  the 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        109 

next  obstruction  in  the  river.  "Then,"  says  the  old 
writer,  "the  heart  of  the  boatman  rejoiced  within  him 
and  the  river  bank  echoed  his  songs  of  cheer,  while  the 
tired  husbandman  stood  still  and  listened  as  the  song 
and  the  voice  passed  by." 

In  1792  the  General  Court  passed  an  act  incorpo- 
rating a  company  entitled,  "The  Proprietors  of  the 
Locks  and  Canals  on  Connecticut  River."  Great 
excitement  prevailed  at  South  Hadley  Falls,  where 
the  first  attempt  at  digging  a  canal  was  made.  Gun 
powder  was  the  only  explosive  known,  and  drilling  was 
done  by  the  hands  of  men.  Outside  parties  contributed 
funds,  and  at  last  a  dam  was  constructed,  and  the 
work  went  slowly  on.  Two  miles  and  a  half  through 
solid  rock  the  channel  for  the  canal  was  cut.  The 
water,  flooding  the  adjacent  meadows,  produced  fever 
and  ague  and  indignant  citizens  clamored  for  the 
removal  of  the  dam.  Those  interested  in  the  fisheries 
demanded  a  fishway  that  the  shad  might  go  up  the 
river  to  their  spawning  shoals.  The  "Proprietors," 
however,  persisted  in  their  undertaking.  December, 
1794,  the  work  was  so  nearly  completed  that  a  day  of 
celebration  was  appointed,  and  many  men  and  women 
were  allowed  to  ride  in  the  great  car  up  and  down  the 
inclined  plane.  South  Hadley  Falls  was  now  the  most 
interesting  place  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  hun- 
dreds of  sightseers  came  on  horseback  to  view  this 
wonderful  engineering  feat,  supposed  to  be  of  immense 


110  Historic  Hadley 

advantage  to  all  engaged  in  transportation  on  the 
river. 

Hadley  had  now  completed  its  first  century  and  was 
a  veteran  among  New  England  towns.  The  primitive 
dwellings  had  been  replaced  by  comfortable  homes. 
Double  rows  of  English  elms,  the  patriarchs  of  to-day, 
planted  on  either  side  of  the  broad  street,  were  growing 
straight  and  tall.  The  fertile  meadows  bore  yearly 
their  autumnal  harvest  of  hay  and  grain.  Wheat,  rye, 
and  barley  flourished  on  the  uplands,  and  great  fields 
of  Indian  corn,  that  native  product  of  the  soil,  fur- 
nished the  farmer  and  his  family  with  the  hasty  pudding 
which  was  his  staple  food.  Josiah  Pierce  had  taught 
his  neighbors  how  to  raise  potatoes,  but  turnips  were 
liked  much  better.  The  women  made  from  flax  the 
cloth  for  garments,  bed  clothing,  and  table  linen,  and, 
adding  wool  to  flax,  made  linsey-woolsey  for  dresses, 
and  to  be  exchanged  for  household  utensils  and  im- 
ported stuff  for  gowns. 

Levi  Dickinson,  a  native  of  Wethersfield,  who  came 
to  Hadley  in  1786  and  settled  on  the  "Back  Street," 
brought  with  him  a  queer  new  kind  of  "corn  seed," 
which  he  showed  his  friends,  saying  that  when  fully 
grown  it  would  make  better  brooms  than  they  had 
ever  seen.  Hearing  this,  the  Hadley  housewife  laughed 
him  to  scorn.  "  Husk  brooms,"  to  sweep  the  ovens, 
and  "splinter  brooms"  made  of  birchen  boughs,  were 
good  enough  for  every  day,  while  the  bristle  and  hair 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        111 

brooms,  brought  from  England,  certainly  could  not  be 
surpassed  by  a  farmer  with  any  kind  of  corn.  Thus 
reasoned  the  incredulous  and  argued  not  the  case. 
Levi  Dickinson,  however,  not  discouraged,  kept  his  own 
council,  harvested  the  first  crop  of  broom  corn  from 
his  garden,  contrived  a  method  of  scraping  the  seed 
from  the  brush  with  a  knife,  and  afterward  with  the 
edge  of  a  hoe,  and  sitting  in  a  chair  with  the  twine  in 
a  roll  under  his  feet  wound  it  around  the  brush  in  his 
lap  and  thus  made  brooms.  Not  asking  his  neighbors 
to  buy,  in  1798  he  peddled  his  brooms  in  Williamsburg, 
Ashfield,  and  Con  way,  and  said  that  the  day  when  he 
sold  his  first  broom  was  the  happiest  day  of  his  life. 
In  1799  he  carried  brooms  to  Pittsfield  and  in  1800 
as  far  as  New  London. 

Then  Hadley  people  began  to  realize  that  a  new  and 
profitable  industry  had  been  started  in  their  midst. 
Cato,  a  colored  man,  planted  some  broom  corn  in  the 
meadow,  and  William  Shipman,  Solomon  Cooke,  and 
Levi  Gale  began  to  raise  the  corn  and  manufacture 
brooms.  Men  in  Hatfield  and  Wliately  went  into  the 
business,  and  Levi  Dickinson,  smiling  to  himself,  calmly 
drove  his  teams  loaded  with  brooms  to  Boston  and  to 
Albany  and  found  a  ready  market.  Making  his  own 
handles  and  spinning  the  twine  from  his  own  flax,  the 
cost  of  the  broom  was  little  and  the  demand  for  the 
finished  product  was  great.  In  1810,  70,000  brooms 
were  made  in  Hampshire  County,  and  before  the  death 


112  Historic  Hadley 

of  Levi  Dickinson  in  1843  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  were  using  Hadley  brooms,  and  his  triumph 
against  local  prejudice  was  complete.  Broom  corn  had 
been  cultivated  for  its  seed  in  southern  Europe,  and  a 
small  amount  was  raised  in  the  southern  states,  but 
the  credit  of  planting  it  in  large  quantities  and  sup- 
plying the  whole  country  with  brooms  belongs  to  Levi 
Dickinson.  In  1850  Eleazer  Porter,  who  took  the 
census,  reported  forty-one  broom  factories  and  769,700 
brooms  and  76,000  brushes  produced  in  a  single  year 
within  the  limits  of  the  little  town  of  Hadley. 

The  canal  had  served  its  purpose  in  part  when 
steamboats  began  to  be  used  for  transportation, 
and  Hadley  people  were  led  to  hope  that  they  too 
might  have  a  share  in  the  benefits  of  this  marvel- 
ous invention.  The  citizens  longed  and  watched 
and  listened  for  the  little  towboat  Barnet,  built  in 
New  York  to  ply  upon  the  river.  When,  after  many 
failures  to  ascend  Enfield  Falls,  she  was  hauled  bodily 
over  the  rocks  and  really  appeared  around  Hockanum 
Bend,  propelled  by  the  wondrous  power  of  steam,  the 
people  made  a  great  rush  to  get  on  board  the  barge 
which  she  had  in  tow,  and  thus  secure  a  share  in  this 
novel  excursion.  Then  came  the  memorable  flood, 
when  travelers  were  taken  in  boats  from  Hadley  Street 
across  the  meadows  to  Northampton,  and  buildings, 
trunks  of  trees,  ruins  of  mills,  bridges  and  fences,  hay, 
pumpkins,  apples,  and  cackling  hens  came  dashing 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        113 

down  the  stream  to  be  landed  along  the  shore.  The 
river  itself  seemed  to  resent  invasion  by  this  puffing, 
wheezing  monster  of  steam  and  took  revenge  on  all 
within  its  reach. 

The  steamer  Vermont  next  started  out  from  Hartford, 
bound  for  the  Green  Mountain  State.  Her  passengers 
exclaimed  with  delight  at  the  beauty  of  the  scenery  as 
she  passed  within  the  shadow  of  Titan's  Pier,  where 
columnar  rocks  rise  high  above  the  water's  edge. 
Here  was  the  abode  of  Manitou,  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  here  two  Indians  were  pursued  and  driven  off 
the  cliff  to  find  death  in  the  unknown  depths  below. 
Just  beyond,  to  gain  a  few  rods  in  distance,  the 
vessel  was  compelled  to  travel  four  miles  through 
the  Ox  Bow.  The  grandeur  of  those  majestic  moun- 
tains, valued  chiefly  as  "  woodlots "  by  farmers  of  the 
valley,  impressed  the  strangers  from  the  south,  who 
gazed  with  surprise  at  the  primitive  hotel,  kept  by 
Willis  Pease  of  Hadley,  which,  on  the  high  summit 
of  Mount  Holyoke,  appeared  against  the  glowing  sky. 
Past  Stoddard's  Island,  over  School  Meadow  Flats, 
beneath  the  sandstone  cliff  of  Sugar  Loaf,  toward 
the  green  hills  of  her  namesake  state,  steamed  the 
Vermont,  creating  the  hope  that  passenger  traffic  on 
the  river  had  at  last  really  commenced. 

The  summer  of  1831  the  steamboat  William  Hall 
left  Hadley  for  Hartford  three  times  a  week,  connecting 
with  steamers  for  New  York.  Those  were  gala  days 


114  Historic  Hadley 

for  Hadley,  but  alas,  the  fates  seemed  unpropitious, 
and  though  many  small  steamboats  were  built  and  put 
into  commission,  yet  the  steamboat  company  failed, 
boilers  burst,  the  shoals  and  currents  shifted,  and 
floods  destroyed  the  work  of  years  in  a  single  night. 
One  wintry  morning,  February  25,  1840,  the  people  of 
Hockanum  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  river  had 
worn  away  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  and  cut  a  new 
channel  for  itself,  thus  making  an  island  of  three 
hundred  acres  of  land,  owned  by  Hadley  farmers  and 
worth  thousands  of  dollars. 

The  reign  of  the  steamboat  could  not  be  prolonged, 
for  the  day  of  the  railroad  was  near  at  hand.  July  4, 
1845,  the  steamer  Franklin  left  the  wharf  at  Hadley, 
with  two  hundred  people  on  board,  "from  the  beauty 
and  chivalry  of  West  Street,"  bound  for  Montague. 
There  they  passed  the  day,  enjoyed  a  picnic  dinner 
with  speeches  and  music,  and  returned  in  safety.  This 
is  the  last  we  hear  of  steamboating  at  Hadley.  That 
same  year  the  people,  crossing  the  toll  bridge,  could 
board  the  train  behind  the  engine  "  Holyoke "  and  jolt 
away  toward  Springfield  and  the  south.  Opponents 
of  the  railroad  became  reconciled  as  its  usefulness  in 
carrying  freight  became  understood.  One  enthusiast 
even  found  the  railroad  picturesque,  and  viewing  the 
spring  freshet  from  the  tower  of  the  church  wrote 
thus  to  the  Hampshire  Gazette: 


Wealth  of  River  and  Fertile  Meadows        115 

"The  swollen  river  lay  spread  out  at  our  feet  in 
broad  expanse,  while  scarce  raised  above  the  flood, 
the  long  straight  line  of  railroad  extended,  and  the 
ponderous  train  flying  o'er  it  seemed  like  some  huge 
sea  bird,  skimming  the  yielding  wave  with  tireless 
wing." 

Years  later  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad,  passing 
through  Hadley,  connected  Northampton  with  the 
capital  city  of  the  state,  and  since  then  the  trolley  has 
given  Hadley  citizens  freedom  to  choose  their  ways 
and  means  of  travel.  The  "huge  sea  bird"  of  iron 
and  steam  still  flies  over  the  "  yielding  wave  "  when 
the  river  overflows  its  meadows,  but  the  river  steamer 
is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  Pine  Boats  and  Oak  Boats, 
the  captains  and  pilots,  are  unknown  to  the  present 
generation.  The  scream  of  the  locomotive  echoes 
from  the  mountain  sides,  and  all  along  the  shore  the 
trolley  cars  rush  wildly  seeking  for  their  prey.  The 
romance  of  the  river  has  departed,  its  quiet  and  seclu- 
sion are  invaded,  its  great  pine  forests  are  destroyed. 
Yet,  unconquered,  it  takes  its  tortuous  course,  refusing 
to  be  curbed,  impossible  to  control,  declining  to  be 
improved,  a  wilful  stream  the  same  in  nature  as  when 
the  white  man  first  gazed  upon  its  waters. 

To-day,  as  summer  travelers  admire  the  beauties  of 
the  Connecticut,  the  prosaic  sunlight  leaves  little  for 
imagination  to  feed  upon.  Yet,  when  beneath  the 
midnight  moon  all  discordant  sounds  have  for  a 


116  Historic  Hadley 

moment  ceased,  through  the  winding  sheet  of  mist 
which  hovers  over  the  river's  surface  we  fancy  we 
catch  the  echoing  dip  of  a  shadowy  paddle,  and  discern 
a  light  canoe  darting  from  shore  to  shore.  The 
unquiet  ghost  of  some  old  Indian  boatman  has  returned 
to  haunt  the  valley  and  stream  which  were  his  ancient 
heritage.  Again  the  river  banks  are  clothed  with  dark 
pine  forests,  and  from  their  depths  the  deer  come 
down  to  drink  and  all  is  quiet  sylvan  beauty.  The 
River  of  Pines  is  again  a  reality.  To  him  whose  eyes 
have  been  unsealed,  for  this  magic  moment  the  old 
days  have  returned. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  BURIAL  PLACE  OF  HADLEY's  HONORED  DEAD 

WITHIN  the  limits  of  the  little  river  town,  during  the 
long  years  of  effort  and  accomplishment,  there  had 
grown  up  another  settlement,  —  the  Hamlet  of  the 
Dead.  Here,  in  1661,  on  the  Meadow  Plain,  near  the 
home  lot  of  Edward  Church,  the  body  of  an  unnamed 
infant  of  Philip  Smith,  grandchild  of  Lieutenant  Sam- 
uel Smith,  the  first  settler,  was  buried  without  prayer 
or  service.  A  few  months  later  Governor  John  Web- 
ster was  in  the  same  rude  fashion,  near  the  grave  of 
the  nameless  child,  placed  beneath  the  sod.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  Old  Hadley  cemetery,  and  here 
within  the  area  of  two  hundred  and  ten  square  rods  of 
rolling  upland  were  buried  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  all  who  died  in  Hadley. 

Some  sort  of  stone  must  have  been  placed  at  the 
grave  of  Governor  Webster,  for  when  in  1812  Noah 
Webster,  his  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation,  came 
to  live  in  Amherst,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the 
resting-place  of  his  distinguished  ancestor,  and  erected 
above  the  same  a  monument  to  his  memory,  that  bears 
the  following  words: 


118  Historic  Hadley 

"To  the  memory  of  John  Webster,  Esq.,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Hartford  in  Connecticut,  who  was  many 
years  magistrate,  or  assistant  and  afterwards  Deputy 
Governor  and  Governor  of  the  colony,  and  in  1659 
with  three  sons,  Robert,  William  and  Thomas  asso- 
ciated with  others  in  the  purchase  and  settlement  of 
Hadley,  where  he  died  in  1665." 

The  date  here  given,  which  is  four  years  later  than 
that  given  by  the  historian  and  genealogist,  was  prob- 
ably indistinct  upon  the  old  stone,  and  therefore  copied 
incorrectly. 

This  burial-place  remained  as  Nature  had  left  it 
during  all  those  early  years.  No  attempt  at  improve- 
ment or  formal  laying  out  of  grounds  was  made,  but, 
as  overcome  by  disease,  or  slain  by  Indians,  or  worn  to 
death  by  hard  and  constant  toil,  the  weary  workers 
ceased  their  labors,  they  were  laid  to  rest  beneath  the 
pines  and  cedars  and  the  life  of  the  town  wrent  on  as 
before.  Nathaniel  Ward,  whose  death  occurred  soon 
after  that  of  Governor  Webster,  left  his  empty  house 
a  bequest  to  Hadley  youth.  John  Hawkes  and 
Thomas  Stanley  were  the  next  of  the  first  settlers  to 
be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  their  fellow  townsmen 
to  their  last  long  home.  John  Barnard,  Richard 
Church,  Stephen  Terry,  William  Westwood,  W'illiam 
Partrigg,  and  Andrew  Bacon  died  in  close  succession, 
and  Thomas  Coleman  followed  them  in  1674.  Henry 
Clark,  the  patron  of  the  Hopkins  School,  amid  the 


Burial  Place  of  Hadley's  Honored  Dead      119 

terrors  of  the  first  Indian  war,  was  taken  out  by  night 
and  left  in  the  lonely  cemetery.  The  next  year  Na- 
thaniel Dickinson,  Joseph  Baldwin,  Thomas  Wells, 
and  Richard  Goodman,  the  latter  killed  by  Indians 
while  viewing  his  fences,  were  escorted  to  the  grave- 
yard by  an  armed  guard  and  hastily  interred.  Parson 
Russell  was  called  upon,  in  1689,  to  mourn  the  death 
of  his  father,  John  Russell,  Sr.,  and  in  1681  the  town 
lost  Richard  Montague,  the  grave-digger  whose  services 
as  a  baker  for  the  soldiers  when  quartered  in  Hadley 
had  saved  them  from  starvation.  Lieutenant  Samuel 
Smith  died  in  1680,  Andrew  Warner  and  Robert 
Boltwood  in  1684,  and  Philip  Smith  in  1685  met  his 
death  because  of  the  practises  of  a  witch.  Samuel 
Porter,  a  strong  supporter  of  the  church,  in  1698 
rested  from  his  labors  in  its  behalf,  and  with  Samuel 
Moody  was  laid  beside  his  colleagues.  One  by  one 
the  old  "engagers,"  Francis  Barnard,  Peter  Tilton, 
William  Markham,  Timothy  Nash,  and  Parson  Russell 
himself,  gave  up  their  toils  and  struggles,  until  the  close 
of  the  century  found  only  Joseph  Kellogg  and  John 
Hubbard  living  of  those  who  built  the  first  little  homes 
on  the  broad  street.  A  few  years  later  every  one  of 
that  valiant  company  except  John  White,  William 
Lewis,  John  Marsh,  William  Goodwin,  and  John  Crow, 
who  had  removed  to  other  towns,  were  inhabitants  of 
that  silent  settlement  where  wars  and  tumult  were 
unknown. 


120  Historic  Hadley 

No  costly  marble  monuments  mark  the  graves  of 
those  old  first  settlers,  for  they  died  in  the  midst  of 
troubled  times  when  care  for  the  living  was  more 
important  than  unnecessary  expense  for  the  dead.  A 
few  rude  gravestones  were  erected,  some  with  figures 
carved  upon  their  surfaces,  and  inscriptions  which 
moss  has  overgrown  and  time  obliterated.  Slate  stones 
were  set  up  for  those  who  died  in  later  years,  and  after 
1800  marble  slabs  were  placed  to  mark  the  resting- 
places  of  those  ancient  worthies  whose  lives  were  their 
best  monument.  Many  slaves  were  also  buried  in  the 
old  cemetery,  but  the  rough  stones  on  which  were  cut 
their  names  and  virtues  have  long  since  crumbled 
away.  No  hearse  was  owned  in  Hadley  until  1826. 
The  path  through  the  home  lot  of  Edward  Church 
was  worn  and  beaten  by  the  feet  of  the  bearers  as  they 
passed  in  slow  procession  with  the  bier  upon  their 
shoulders  to  the  place  of  burial.  The  minister  stood 
among  the  neighbors  who  gathered  round  the  grave, 
but  no  word  was  said  and  no  prayers  offered.  Such 
were  the  funeral  fashions  of  the  fathers  in  colonial  days. 

The  graves  of  three  Hadley  pioneers,  Captain 
Aaron  Cooke,  Chileab  Smith,  and  John  Ingram,  are 
marked  with  ancient  headstones.  The  stone  at  the 
grave  of  Dr.  John  Westcarr,  who  died  in  1675,  seems 
to  have  been  placed  in  position  many  years  after 
his  death.  The  old  historian  states  that  in  1858  there 
were  only  ten  stones  in  the  yard  with  dates  earlier  than 


Burial  Place  of  Hadley's  Honored  Dead      121 

1720,  and  on  many  of  these  the  inscription  is  now 
entirely  obliterated.  The  oldest  monuments  in  the 
cemetery  are  the  sandstone  tables  erected  in  1692  to 
the  memory  of  Parson  Russell  and  his  wife,  Rebekah. 
The  inscription  on  the  first,  which  is  fully  legible, 
reads  as  follows: 

REV  RUSSELL'S  REMAINS  WHO  FIRST  GATH- 
ERED AND  FOR  33  YEARS  FAITHFULLY 
GOVERNED  THE  FLOCK  OF  CHRIST  IN 
HADLEY  TIL  THE  CHEIF  SHEPHERD  SUD- 
DENLY BUT  MERCIFULLY  CALLED  HIM  OFF 
TO  RECEIVE  HIS  REWARD  IN  THE  66  YEAR 
OF  HIS  AGE,  DECEMBER  10,  1692. 

The  words  above  Rebekah  declare: 

REBEKAH  MADE  BY  GOD  MBIT  HELP  TO 
MR  JOHN  RUSSELL  AND  FELLOW  LABORER 
IN  CHRIST'S  WORK.  A  WISE  VERTUOUS 
PIOUS  MOTHER  IN  ISRAEL  LYES  HERE  IN 
ASSURANCE  OF  A  JOYFUL  RESURRECTION. 
SHE  DIED  IN  THE  57  YEAR  OF  HER  AGE, 
NOVEMBER  21,  1688. 

The  graves  of  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey  and  of  Rev. 
Chester  Williams  are  marked  by  upright  sandstones, 
while  a  marble  monument  points  out  the  place  where 
lies  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins.  Each  of  these  stones  bears 
an  appropriate  inscription  describing  the  life  and 


122  Historic  Hadley 

character  of  him  who  is  buried  beneath  the  stone. 
The  cemetery  was  enlarged  in  1828  and  covers  at 
present  about  four  acres.  Here,  during  all  the  years 
of  its  eventful  history,  the  descendants  of  the  first 
"engagers"  have  one  by  one  returned  to  lay  their 
friends  and  relatives  by  the  side  of  the  common  ances- 
tors, the  founders  of  the  town.  Here  is  the  newly 
made  grave  of  Bishop  Frederic  D.  Huntington,  an 
illustrious  son  of  Hadley,  and  every  famous  name  of 
the  old-time  pioneers  is  repeated  again  and  again  on 
ancient  and  modern  headstones. 

No  need  is  there  to  recite  or  emphasize  the  heroic 
deeds  of  each  calm  sleeper.  The  story  is  written  in 
the  history  of  the  land  which  their  sons  and  daughters 
have  peopled  with  a  race  of  men  and  women  worthy 
of  their  sires. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Allis,  William  4,  79 

Amherst  50,  53,  91,  117 

Amherst  College  71,  94 

Angel  of  Hadley,  The  27 

Army  from  Connecticut,  The,  34 
Ashfield  111 

Attack  on  Hadley,  The  35 

Austin,  Rev.  Samuel  61 

Ayres  [Rev.]  Roland  72 

B 

Bacon,  Andrew  15,  118 

Baldwin,   Joseph  16,  119 

Ball,  Dyer  97 

Barnard,  Francis  16,  28,  1 19 

John  78, 118 

John,  2nd,  15, 16, 28 

Joseph  21 

Samuel  42,  45 

Barnet,  The  112 

Barnstahle  10 

Bartlett,  Daniel  66 

Lyman  97 

Bates,  Isaac  C  92 

Bayne,  Rev.  J.  S.  72 

Beaman,  Rev.  Warren  H.        72 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward  97 

Beers,  Captain  25 

Belding  Samuel  4 

Billing,  Richard  4 

Bloody  Brook  28 

Boardman,  Rev.  Daniel  81 

Boltwood,  Robert  16,  85,  119 

Samuel  88 


Bonney,  Dr.  95 

Boston,  Joshua  48 

Bradstreet,  Simon  40 

Branford  ]  0 

Breck,  Rev.  Robert  54 

Bridgman,  Elijah  C.  97 

Henry  M.  97 

James  G.  97 

Brown,  Rev.  John  72 

Broom  Industry,  The  110 

Burgoyne,  General  64,  65 


Chapin,  John  106 

Church,  Benjamin  55 

Edward  16,  117,  120 

Richard          16,  42,  43,  118 

Chauncey,  Rev.  Charles  41 

Rev.  Isaac     40,  43,  49,  121 

Israel  53,  81 

Nathaniel  81 

Richard  50 

Clark,  Henry  16.  78,  118 

William  12 

Clary,  John  88 

Clinton,  The  108 

Coleman,  John  4 

Thomas  15,  118 

Colt,  Benjamin  62 

Commissioners    of   the    New 

England  Colonies  28 

Conway  111 

Cook,  Horace  96 

Cookc,  Aaron        10,  15,  31,  43, 

46,  78,  87,  120 


126 


Index 


Cooke,  Aaron,  Jr. 

25 

Edwards,  Jonathan      56, 

57,  63 

Moses 

55,  89 

Noah 

106 

Noah 

63 

Emmons,  Rev.  Nathaniel 

61 

Solomon 

111 

Enfield  Falls 

112 

Westwood      55, 

89,  90,  101 

Essex,  England 

8 

Cowls,  John 

4,  62 

Crow,  John           16, 

33,  84,  119 

Cullick,  John 

77 

F 

Falls  Boats 

107 

D 

Falls  Fight,  The 

32,  33 

Fellows,  Richard 

4 

Danforth,  Francis 

72 

Field,  Zachariah 

4 

Davenport,  John 

77 

Flying  Fish,  The 

108 

Dedhara 

81 

Franklin,  The 

114 

Deerfield 

32,  53,  81 

Dickinson,  Azariah 

26 

Benjamin 

81 

G 

Elijah 

69 

Elisha 

68,  89 

Gale,  Levi 

111 

Hezekiah 

44 

Gardner,  Samuel 

16 

John 

15,  32 

Gay,  Ebenezer 

81 

Levi 

110,  111 

Gaylord,  Chester 

92 

Nathaniel  2,4,8 

,  12,  14,  26, 

Nehemiah 

66 

78,  79,  119 

Samuel 

56,  89 

Nathaniel,  Jr. 

4 

Goffe,  General  William 

23,  31 

Nehemiah 

45 

Goodman,  James 

55 

Reuben 

50 

John 

15 

Samuel 

4 

Richard    2,5,15,30, 

44,119 

Samuel,  Dea. 

89,  90 

Goodwin,  William       11, 

16,  77, 

Simeon 

81 

78,  82,  1  19 

Thomas 

14 

Grannis,  Edward 

21 

William 

92 

Graves,  Isaac 

4,  12 

Dispatch,  The 

108 

John, 

4 

Dunbar,  John 

97 

Thomas 

4 

D  wight,  Daniel 

81 

John 

84 

Timothy 

94 

II 

Pres.  Timothy 

70 

0  A 

fl  ** 

Dwight  Memorial  Library       84 

E 

Eastman,  Joseph  89 

Eaton,  Gov.  Theophilus    75,  77 


Hampshire  Troop,  The  25 

Harrison,  Isaac  33 

Hartford      1,  3,  4,  8,  31,  44,  76, 
78,  81,  113 

Harvard  College      9,  41,  53,  79, 
81,  90 


Index 


127 


Harvard,  John  75 

Hatfield       4,  25,  26,  32,  54,  67 


81,  92, 

96,  111 

King  Philip                   24,  28,  36 

Hawkes,  Gershom 

36,  37 

John 

16,  118 

Hawley,  Joseph 

43,  87 

L 

Hooker,  Rev. 

61 

General  Joseph 

97 

Lake  George,  Battle  of            59 

Hopkins,  Gov.  Edward 

75,76 

Lamb,  Daniel                           106 

John 

69 

Lewis,  William              2,  15,  119 

Rev.  Samuel  54,  57 

,  60,  67, 

Lincoln,  General                        67 

69,  121 

Locke,  Dr.  William                   34 

Hopkins  Academy 

96 

Longmeadow                              57 

Hopkins  Fund,  The 

78,  95 

Lothrop,  Captain          25,  28,  34 

Hopkins  Grammar  School       79 

Lyman,  Enos                            102 

Hovey,  Thomas 

89 

Israel                                   68 

Hubbard,  Edmund 

62,  89 

Rev.  Joseph           67,  70,  92 

John               12,  15, 

81,  119 

Phineas                              62 

Joseph 

55 

Humphrey,  President 

71 

Hunt,  Ebenezer 

70 

M 

Huntington,  Rev.  Dan 

59,  92 

Rev.  Frederic  Dan 

59,  122 

Magnalia,  The                           38 

Theodore 

96 

Markham,  William       3,  16,  119 

Marsh,  Daniel                     45,  55 

Dwight,                               97 

I 

Ebenezer,                      55,  62 

Job                           55,  89,  90 

Indian  Fort,  The 

5,  79 

John                       3,  16,  119 

Ingram,  John 

16,  120 

Jonathan                      46,  81 

Moses       55,  62,  63,  66,  67, 

89 

J 

Martin,  Rev.  Benjamin            72 

Mather,  Cotton     '                     38 

James,  John 

81 

Nathaniel                            81 
Prof.  Richard  H.               97 

Warham                              81 

Meekins,  Thomas                 4,  12 

K 

Montague,  Peter                        45 

Richard     7,  15,  20,  34,  119 

Keedy,  Rev.  E.  E. 

72 

Moody,  Samuel           16,  40,  119 

Kellogg,  Ezekiel 

55 

Morse,  John                               81 

Giles,  Crouch 

62,  92 

Muddy  Brook                            28 

Joseph  7,  11,  14,  21,  31,  32, 
34,  119 


128 


Index 


N 

Porter,  Experience                     97 

Nash,  Enos 
John 
Rev.  John  A. 
Josiah 
Samuel 

57,  89 
101 
94 
66,  68 
37 

Jeremiah                               55 
Jonathan  Edwards             64 
Moses  56,  58,  60,  68,  69,  92 
Samuel                            15,  34 
Samuel,  2nd      43,  44,  45,  46 

Samuel 
Newbury,  Thomas 
Timothy 
New  Haven             23, 
New  London 
Nichols,  A. 

95 
10 
16,  34,  119 
70,  75,  94 
19,  111 
16 

63,  67,  68,  89,  92,  119 
Samuel,  3d                           55 
Prentice,  John                              19 
Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and 
Canals                             109 
Prutt,  Arthur                               49 

r/     \        1                                                                           •-  1 

Zebulon                              .)! 

George 
Noble,  Mctlacl 

94 
66 

Pynchon,  John      1,  2,  20,  24,  28, 

Northampton      4,  5, 

14,  17,  20, 

43,  87 

25,  26,  32,  53,  56, 

59,  61,  81, 

90,  112 

North  Hadley 

96 

Norwalk 
Norwich 
Nye,  Ichabod 

53 
33 
66 

Rand,  Rev.  William                  53 
Reed,  Thomas                     30,  32 
Re^ieides,  The                            22 

Riddle,  Rev.  William                61 

P 

Ru£jr,  Samuel                            101 

Russell,  Rev.  E/ekiel                 94 

Parsons,  Rev.  David 

61,  70 

John                           3,  14,  19 

Joseph 

43 

Parson  John       1,  3,  10,  11, 

Partrigg,  John 

81 

15,  17,  19,  21,  22,  29,  31, 

Samuel     34    40 

43,  44,  81, 

34,  39,  40,  75,  78,  86,  97, 

8(5 

119,  121 

William 

15,  118 

Jonathan                               10 

Pease,  Willis 

113 

Philip                                     9 

I  'helps,  (Charles       59, 

67,  68,  89 

Samuel                                   10 

Pierce,  Josiah        62, 

63,  84,  90, 

Russell  Church,  The                 71 

102,  110 

Pittsfield 

111 

Pixley,  Wm. 

16 

S 

Plnmmer,  General  Jo 

soph  B.  97 

Pomerov,  Ebenezcr 

66 

Saratoga,  Rattle  of                   64 

Titus 

106 

Seelye,  Pres.  L.  Clark               97 

Pomfret 

54 

Slavery  in  Hadley                       48 

Porter,  Aaron 

81 

Shays,  Daniel                               67 

Eleazer     46,  47, 

48,  54,  63, 

Shepherd,  Levi                          106 

89,  112 

Shipman,  William                     111 

Elisha                63, 

64,  65,  89 

Smith,  Benjamin                         88 

Index 


129 


Smith  Caleb 

68,  88 

Chileab,  1st 

10,  120 

Chileab,  2nd 

46,89 

David 

89 

Dudley 

65 

Ebenezer 

42 

Eliakira 

56,  62 

Enos 

58,  67 

Erastus 

88 

Ichabod 

55 

Jacob 

71,  92 

John,  Dea. 

46,  55,  89 

John 

90 

Joseph 

81,  89 

Noah 

63 

Oliver 

62,  60,  89 

Percy 

68 

Philip          15, 

31,  37,  38,  86 

117,  119 

Rodney 

84 

Samuel     3,  4,  6,  12,  15,  17 
25,  30,  65,  78,  117,  119 
Seth  92 

Timothy  66 

Warhaiii  63 

Windsor  68 

Rev.  Worthington  94 

Smith  College  97 

South  Had  ley  52,  90 

South  Hadley  Falls  102,  109 
Springfield  12,  25,  28, 32,  54,  94 
Standley,  Thomas  4,  7 

Stanley,  Nathaniel  15 

Thomas  4,  7,  15,  118 

Steele,  Stephen  81 

Stockbridge,  Levi  96,  97 

Stratford  41 

Strong,  Governor  60,  70 

Sunderland  53 

Swan,  Thomas  81 


Taylor,  John 


16 


Taylor,  Oliver  S.  94 

Stephen  4 

Terry,  Stephen  16,  118 

Tilton,  Peter  6,  15,  23,  31,  78, 

83,  119 

Traynor,  Francis  66 

Treat,  Salmon  81 

Turner,  William  32 


U 


United     Colonies     of     New 

England  76 

Utrecht  44   58 


Vermont,  The  108,  113 

Vermont,  University  of  94 


W 

Ward,  Nathaniel     2,  5,  10,  78, 
79,  82,  118 

Warner,  Andrew  16,  44,  79,  119 
Daniel  4 

Jonathan  62 

Oliver  52,  55 

Orange  45 

Warren,  Lemuel  08 

Watson,  Caleb  79 

Webster,  Gov.  John  3,  16,  19,  1 17 
Mary  15,  37 

Noah  117 

Wells,  Jonathan  33 

Thomas  12,  15,  119 

Thomas,  Jr.  21 

Westcarr,  Dr.  John    20,  21,  120 
Westfield  3,  32 

West  Springfield  57 

Westwood,  William    2,  4,  7,  10, 
US 


130 


Index 


Wethersfield     1%4,  8,  9,  81,  110 

\Vhalley,  Gen.  Edward      23,  24 

White,  Daniel  4,  67 

John  2,  4,  15,  119 

John,  Jr.  4 

Nathaniel  .  46,  67 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George  54 

Whiting,  Rev.  John  10 

Whitney,  Prof.  William  D       97 

William  Hall,  The  113 

Williams,   Rev.  Chester  54,  56, 

121 

Rev.  Ebenezer  54 

Elisha  81 

Rev.  John  53 

Solomou  81 


Williams,  Rev.  Stephen  57,  81 

Williamsburg  111 

Windsor                     3,  10,  15,  81 

Witchcraft  in  Hadley  37 

Wohurn  90 

Woodbridge,  Rev.  John  69,  92 

Worcester,  Rev.  Leonard  61 


Yale.  David  76 

Elihu  76 

Yale    College    54,  57,  72,  81,  97 

Younglove,  John  80 


Genealogical  Work 

REQUIRES    JUST   SUCH    SPECIAL    EQUIPMENT  As  WE    HAVE 

E  are  constantly  making  researches  in  various 
parts  of  this  country  and  Europe,  and  our 
prices  are  always  reasonable.  Our  final  reports  to 
our  clients  are  accompanied  either  by  certified 
documents,  or  exact  references  to  the  authorities 
for  every  statement  we  make.  A  special  feature  of 
our  research  work  is  to  establish  authoritatively  the 
right  to  use  arms  and  crests,  and  to  determine 
which,  if  any,  of  the  coats  of  arms  under  a  given 
surname  belong  by  inheritance  to  a  client.  We 
compile  for  the  press  01  ror  preservation  in  manu- 
script form,  material  which  has  been  collected  but 
not  classified  or  put  in  order.  Manuscripts  will  be 
criticized,  revised,  or  entirely  rewritten,  or  scien- 
tifically numbered  and  indexed. 
A  WELL  made  volume  is  especially  desirable  in  a 
•**•  genealogy,  history  or  biography.  Because  of 
necessary  limitations  of  expense,  it  is  not  always 
possible  to  use  the  finest  materials  in  a  book,  but 
the  least  costly  should  be  made  with  taste,  care  and 
good  judgment,  so  that  the  finished  volume  will  be 
always  a  source  of  satisfaction  and  pleasure.  We 
believe  that  none  can  excel  us  in  any  form  of 
book-making.  All  of  our  illustrations  are  done  by 
expert  workmen,  and  our  reproductions  of  old 
documents  cannot  be  surpassed.  Most  of  the  books 
made  by  us  are  also  published  by  us.  This  means 
that  they  are  added  to  our  catalogue,  the  trade  and 
libraries  circularized,  the  volumes  packed  and 
shipped,  and  reviews  supplied. 

THE  GHAFTOV  PKF.SS,  GENEALOGICAL  EDITORS  AND  PUBLISHERS 
70  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


Concerning  Genealogies 

Being  Suggestions  of  Value  for  all  Inter- 
ested in  Family  History 

By  FRANK  ALLABEN 

Director  of  the  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Department 
of  THE  GRAKTON  PRESS 


work  contains  chapters  on  ancestry  hunting, 
*•  on  methods  of  research,  the  compiling  of  a 
genealogy,  the  printing,  the  publishing,  and  on  the 
different  kinds  of  genealogies.  It  explains  how  to 
proceed,  gives  a  general  idea  of  the  sources  of 
information,  and  tells  how  to  make  a  genealogy 
that  will  be  accurate  and  authoritative. 

"A  little  work  of  great  skill  and  practical  value." 

— Salt  Lake  Tribune. 

"I  am  quite  delighted  with  it.'' 

—Henry  R.  Stiles,  A.M.,  M.D. 

"It  will  repay  frequent  re-reading  and  constant 
reference."  — Hartford  (Ct.)  Times. 

"To  all  who  are  contemplating  compiling  a  family 
history  we  commend  the  'suggestions.'' " — The  American 
Monthly,  official  organ  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

12mo,  Cloth,  brown  and  (/old,  gilt  top,  uncut 
Price,  75  cents;  postage,  f>  cents 

We  have  two  excellent  forms  of  note  books  for  working 
genealogists. 

THE  GRAFTON  PRESS,  GENEALOGICAL  EDITORS  AND  PUBLISHERS 
70  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


Important  Genealogies  and  Histories 

DERBY  GENEALOGY.  The  descendants  of  Thomas 
Derby  of  Stow,  Massachusetts.  By  Mrs.  Viola  A.  Derby 
Bromley.  Octavo,  cloth.  Price  $4  (carriage  extra). 

ARMORIAL  FAMILIES.  By  A.  C.  Fox-Davies.  One 
volume,  folio,  illustrated,  1,400  pages.  $40  net  (carriage 
extra).  5th  edition,  with  colored  plates,  $50. 

CHRONICLE  OF  HENRY  THE  VIIRh.  A  reprint 
of  Edward  Hall's  famous  work.  Two  volumes,  folio,  cloth. 
$15  net  (carriage  extra). 

WILLIAM  CECIL,  LORD  BURGHLEY  (Queen 
Elizabeth's  Lord  Treasurer),  his  life,  genealogy,  arms  and 
descendants.  Folio,  illustrated,  cloth.  $10  net  (carriage 
extra). 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  TRYPHENA  ELY  WHITE 
DURING  THE  YEAR  1805.  Edited  by  Fanny  Kellogg. 
12mo,  cloth,  illustrated.  $1  net  (postage  10  cents). 

THE  JACOBITE  PEERAGE.  The  official  and  military 
titles  and  patents  of  nobility,  etc.,  conferred  by  the  Stuart 
pretenders.  Folio,  canvas,  gilt  top.  $15  net  (carriage 
extra). 

THE  BLOOD  ROYAL  OF  BRITAIN.  Contains  over 
36,000  lines  of  Royal  descent  from  Edward  IV  and  Henry 
VII  of  England  and  James  III  of  Scotland.  Folio,  650 
pages,  Japanese  vellum.  $50  net  (carriage  extra). 

THE  PLANTAQENET  ROLL.  Gives  an  immense 
number  of  descents  from  Edward  III  of  England.  Folio, 
550  pages,  cloth.  $45  net  (carriage  extra). 

HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  WETHERSFIELD,  CON- 
NECTICUT. By  Henry  R.  Stiles,  M.D.  Two  volumes, 
cloth,  folio,  illustrated.  $25  net  (carriage  extra). 

THE  HILLS  FAMILY  IN  AMERICA.  By  William 
S.  and  Thomas  Hills.  8vo,  cloth,  illustrated.  $6  net 
(carriage  extra). 

THE  ANCESTRY  AND  DESCENDANTS  OF  LIEUT. 
JONATHAN  AND  TAME  SIN  (BARKER)  NORRIS, 
OF  MAINE.  By  H.  M.  Norris.  8vo,  cloth,  illustrated, 
gilt  top.  $3  net  (carriage  extra). 

THE  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  RIX  FAMILY.  By 
Guy  S.  Rix.  8vo,  cloth,  illustrated.  $5  net  (carriage  extra). 

The   above  prices  are  subject  to  increase  without  notice. 

THE  GRAFTON  PRESS,  GENEALOGICAL  EDITORS  AND  PUBLISHERS 
70  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


i       WG2 
AU61219I 


*  m 


21971 


Form  L9-50m-7,'54 (5990) 444 


., 


A    001  338012    6 


3   1158  00274  0461 


